Dawn Will Come
by Inebriated Caffeine Imbiber
Summary: An AU where our knight in shining armour is sent on a quest to find the princess hidden in a tower in a far away land. He must bring her back if humanity is to survive the war that they are all pitted against. Will he convince her to return with him? Or does her icy exterior reach deep into her heart? However if he succeeds in convincing her to return, is she what they hope for?
1. The Flagbearer

The sunlight crept out from the horizon as dawn approached. The rays began to bounce off whatever spots that were clean from the grime and scratches and rust present. However the sunlight did not bring the Rider's glorious wooden wings to shame. The light caught all of the individual feathers and made him look like warrior of true mettle.

The figure sat astride a well looked after chestnut, a rumble going through its chest as it shook its mane. "I know, I know. I don't like it either but we gotta try. She could help us all." The figure stroked their war mate and calmed it down with low noises.

Soon enough, the pair were off, treading over dead bodies and similar knights in plate mail. The figure themselves only wore a chest plate, arm guards and greaves while the rest was covered in riveted chain mail. "Not many lived, huh? What a blood tragedy." The horse nodded in agreement as they approached a tower that set off an ominous aura.

The horse whinnied again. "I know, I know. I hate being sent on this mission, but High Commander says it's of utmost importance. All of her other loyalists are out on their own mission and we were the next best thing, I wouldn't think too hard on it." The horse grumbled before picking up the pace.

The drawbridge was up, what a surprise. But the Rider saw no evidence of what caused the carnage behind them. "Maybe a beast of mythological status?" The rider mused as they inspected the gap, no way could he jump the gap and neither could his horse.

"If Little Red was here, she'd know what to do." He grimaced until the horse bumped its nose into him, smiling he patted the nose. "I'm not being self deprecating, I'm just musing about what they would do. Sunlight could clear this gap in an instant, I have no idea how that woman can have so much energy."

Was the horse laughing? "What? I know she hates that nickname and prefers to be called Aurora, but it's worth seeing her reaction. Though if I keep saying it I won't live as long as I'd like." The rider checked their gear and looked for a grappling hook. "Any ideas what could've caused the scene behind us?" The horse shook its head.

But right now, at the back of the Rider's head, there were whisperings. Some were suggestive, some were outright demanding. At first he looked around to see if they were alone. "Do you hear that?" The horse nodded in affirmation.

He quickened his pace and began to throw his grapple, the rope and head sailing across the gap. However, he noticed that as he let it go, the whisperings became louder and then fell silent as the hook attached itself to the balustrade. He peered down the edge with a grimace. "That's a long way down, stay here alright?" The horse just gave him a look that he rolled his eyes at, even his horse was sassy.

The Rider took a run up and sailed over the edge and grasped at the rope, hauling himself up over the edge. He always kept his hand on his sword as he searched around for the winch. Right there, was a guard house that could hide one.

Only more dead bodies. The Rider grimaced as he stepped over the dead bodies and began to arduous task of lowering the gate.

A loud boom echoed as the draw bridge hit the surface. He looked around and gripped his sword tighter as he exited the guard house, no opposition?

There was the bloody voices again, echoing off the walls of his mind. "Like do you mind being quiet? I have a job."

'Why do you ever believe that you could amount to anything other than a squire? Those wings were a pity gift by the High Commander. Why don't you go rogue? You'd get a far higher standing then than you would ever get under her gaze.'

He shook his head… And the thought hit him. 'Was this how that carnage was created? Do these get worse to the point where it drives you to kill? What is this place?' The horse neighed and shook its mane again.

The pair walked over the drawbridge, stopping right in the front of the door leading up to the tower. There, famed was a princess of pure white, one that could change the tide of this grim war. The Rider looked at his horse before unclasping the wings around his waist and placed it on the saddle. "Too clunky for in doors, even for me." The horse shook its head in agreement and whinnied in worry. "I'll be fine, my wings say everything about me for Pete's sake, gotta count for something right?" Sceptical look from said horse.

"Climb the steps, end the war." He breathed deeply as he began that dreaded ascent. His steps echoed off the cold stone walls. 'Is it getting colder the further I go up?' He mused as the steel of his chain mail began to slightly shine from a layer of frost. His breath steamed and he began to shiver. 'I'll be a frozen popsicle at the end of this.'

And, as if fate was listening to him, the door came into view rather suddenly. The door knob was clearly frozen over. 'I'm here now, can't go back.'

'Kill her, kill her and become powerful.'

'What the hell? Bugger off kindly.' He grumbled at the thoughts in his head. With a shaky breath he grasped the door knob and twisted it, opening the door with a deathly creak.

'Ok, now it's bloody freezing.' He moved the door wide opened and there was a rather regal looking woman looking out the window, standing stock still. She was breathing, somewhat. But she stood so still that it was almost like she was frozen solid.

The Rider gave her a look over. She was wearing a rather beautiful dress that started off white before drifting into deep blue as it travelled up her form. She was surprisingly agile looking for someone who has been trapped in a tower for so long, maybe an enchantment provided her sustenance?

He looked around the room and saw a case with soft velvet lining the inside. 'Wait, where's the weapon?'

He got his answer as the princess had travelled the distance between them immediately and had her rapier pointing right at the visor of his helmet. They stood silent for a while, until a surprisingly soft voice emanated from her lips. But that voice emanated authority.

"Name." She gave him a cold stare.

'Huh, surprisingly young sounding, not a bad looker as well. That scar rather enhances her beauty.' Her gaze hardened as she squinted further, almost as if she could read his thoughts. 'Better open my mouth before I die.' He raised a somewhat shaky hand and lifted the visor off of his face.

His ocean blue eyes pierced her ice blue ones. "J-Jaune Arc."

"Arc, what are you here for? Why shouldn't I kill you right now?" Her tone was rather haughty. 'What a lovely combo.'

"I'm here… on a mission… to bring an end to this war." The princess didn't move.

"You came here on a fool's errand. Be thankful that I don't slaughter you where you stand."

'Kill her now!' His face contorted. "Is it the voices, that make you so cold?"

'Oh shit, bad move.' The rapier nearly poked his nose out as she moved closer. "I didn't ask for you to come anywhere near me, now either take my good graces or be acquainted with the pile of corpses outside."

"B-but please! I cannot go back empty handed. I'm just a simple Knight who just wants to end this bloody war. I am tired of waking up to more dead bodies and lost friends. Please, help me end this war."

"You only want me for my power." She sassed him. 'Holy shit she's attractive when she does that. Ok brain not helping!'

'Kill her now! End it all! She makes this a reality! Kill her and end the war.' The voices caressed his mind.

"How can you handle those voices? They'd drive me up the walls."

"You learn to silence them. Keep talking and you won't have to." The tip pierced his skin and blood pooled slightly.

"Come on, I rode here for a while and I'm bloody tired, I do not have time for ice cold snooty princess'." He turned on his heel and was about to head out before he felt a source of heat behind him. 'That's odd, I didn't see any torcheAAAAEEEE!'

He was sent flying into the wall as a fireball erupted behind him. He collapsed onto the ground, leaving a Jaune sized clean section of the wall. He groaned as he opened his eyes and saw the Princess staring down at him. "No one has ever treated me like that. Do you know how long I've waited to meet the person who didn't give a damn about my status and wasn't afraid to talk back?"

'Uhh way to long?' He shrugged his shoulders.

"Too long, now Jaune Arc. I will ride back with you, but I will not hand myself willingly to your leader. I hope you are far more interesting company than you've led me to believe."

"Naturally, would never want to disappoint you." His voice was heavy with sarcasm, which made her mouth twitch. He got back up and led the way back down. The voices in their heads became desperate and assaulted them harder. At one point, Jaune grasped his sword with half of the thought of cleaving her in half.

They reached the bottom and the horse neighed in happiness as it trotted over to Jaune, head butted him affectionately. "What a lovely horse, is she fast?"

"Fastest horse in the army, no mare or stallion is faster than my war mate." He offered her a push up, to which she gracefully accepted. She may have hated ass kissers but she can respect a gentleman.

She watched with curiosity as he buckled on his war wings and slid down his visor. He was a completely different person now, completely silent and serious. He slid up onto the horse with expertise and clicked his tongue, urging the horse to get them back to their base as fast as they can.

* * *

"We must use the mountains to our advantage, our snipers can use the height to rain lead onto the enemy." The red headed Hoplite studied a map intensely amongst commanders that follow the scheme of red, yellow and black separately. They all nodded in agreement, the red commander moved forward. "My battalion will work well in that small pass, they wouldn't be able to come at us beyond 5 abreast."

The yellow commander nodded. "My shock troopers can cover any holes that have been created by the enemy, there is no way they can completely break through." Her eyes were red as she thought of the action ahead.

"My mounted war band will keep the High Commander safe, if anything was to break through they would be more than capable enough of closing the gap until reinforcements arrive. Don't worry, we'll keep you safe."

Right now, a sizeable commotion could be heard from the other side of the camp. The Hoplite looked at each commander. "Expecting any visitors?" They all shook their head.

The jingling of a harness stopped as they heard two sets of feet hit the ground and approach the grand tent. The flaps were opened as the familiar sight of war wings and Jaune Arc entered the tent. With a practised gesture, he got on one knee and held a hand over his breast. "High Commander, I have returned with success."

The flap opens again and the Princess entered, immediately casting her eyes over the tent. Her attention was immediately attracted by the High Commander. "Weiss Schnee, I can't tell you how relieved I see that you are willing to help."

Weiss tilted her head as her lips curled into a confident smile. "Your choice of Knight was rather interesting if I say so myself. He certainly has a bravery about him rarely seen. Wise choice, High Commander Pyrrha Nikos."


	2. The Orders

"I'm sorry, I am to what?!" Jaune's voice cracked as he didn't believe what he just heard.

Commander Cerise was in front of him, somewhat perplexed at his reaction. "What's the matter? You are to be her guardian, her personal guard as it where."

"Does she even know about this?" She nodded emphatically.

"Naturally. It was a condition on which her and High Commander spoke about. Actually, she chose you specifically. No idea why, but you have your orders Jaune."

His eyes grew wide as he realised the implications. "What does she need a body guard for!? She bloody nearly blew me off the tower she did!" He stood shaking with worry. He wasn't a coward by any means, but when you're the body guard of a person who could burn you to ashes with a moody thought you kinda get worried for your life span.

The smaller woman shrugged her shoulders. "Orders are orders. And I don't think that you're brave enough to disobey a direct order from High Commander, are you?"

"Brave? No. Smart? Yes." He grumbled as he belted on his unique weapon and left the tent in a flourish. It was day break and the watery sun shined weakly onto his plate. He still hadn't given his chain mail a proper service but the rust was less noticeable than before.

"You carry yourself heavy, Hussar. What appears to be wrong?" A soft but well spoken voice broke him out of his stupor.

"Commander Midnight! Ma'am!" He immediately drew to attention and saluted the Commander, who couldn't help a small smile grace her lips as she studied him. He was tense under all that armour and his Aura was dimmed by worry and fear.

"Please Jaune, there is no need for formalities when you aren't in my war band, please refer to me as Midnight. What ails you?"

Jaune eyed her with mild curiosity before blinking back to reality. "I've been given the luxurious and illustrious duty of looking after her Highness. What a perfect opportunity for a Scout Leader such as I." He rolled his eyes at his misfortune.

Midnight couldn't stop a giggle escaping her mouth as she looked up at him. "Oh my dear Scout Leader, don't look so forlorn. I saw she was quite the looker, and if a she's been chained for so long then she will hunger for a touch."

Jaune started to redden slightly, Midnight wasn't flirtatious, just playful. It set him off somewhat as he whipped his mind back to its dark confines. No one paid for his opinion so he kept his mouth shut. The sight made the Commander laugh softly before stroking him on the arm. "At ease, Jaune. I'm only having some fun." She walked past him with a smirk on his face.

He couldn't help but watch her leave. She was certainly an attractive woman and her armour made her look like a bona fide bad ass. Her dark plate mail had a dull shine, her symbol painted in a vivid purple that stood out from the black. But it wasn't her posture and body that was interesting, but it was her ears.

Or rather, her two sets of ears.

He shook himself from his stupor and marched towards an unfamiliar tent that was recently erected. Four of the High Commander's guards crossed their halberds and blades to block his path. "Name, and intent of visit."

"Jaune Arc, I have been assigned to be the Princess' personal guard." He handed over a scroll with Pyrrha's seal emblazoned on the wax. The Guard cracked it open and skimmed the contents before nodding and allowing Jaune to move forward.

He rapped his gauntlet on the pole used to support the tent. He heard a haughty sigh and some rustling of cloth. "Enter."

He ducked his head as his war wings graced the roof. Her icy gaze pierced his soul as she stared into his eyes. She automatically placed a veil of superiority and squinted her eyes condescendingly, as if she was looking at some faeces on her heels. "Yes? What are you here for?"

Jaune inwardly rolled his eyes as he proffered the scroll to which she took with dainty fingers. She stretched it out and skimmed the lines before placing it on the night stand next to her and huffed with annoyance. "You should consider yourself lucky, Arc. You'll be pulled from the front lines to protect my fair skin." She tossed her pony tail off her shoulder and had it cascade down her back like a silver waterfall.

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh yes, I can't think of anything more illustrious than looking after a snooty Princess." He eyed her warily. 'Really gotta learn to keep my trap shut.'

She eyed him with condescending curiosity. "Didn't your commanders ever teach you to respect and revere royalty?" She crossed her arms and looked at him with an unimpressed look.

"They did, but they didn't enforce it either. We aren't strongarmed here. So while you may expect respect, I will give it to you when you stop seeing me as a roach to be squashed."

She got up and advanced on him gracefully. 'Holy hell she is hot, goddamnit brain!'

"Why, would I ever respect a lowly Scout Leader such as yourself?" Her gaze made him slightly uncomfortable. She wasn't this haughty normally, but she did get a kick to see how far her status as a Princess could be pushed. However, this particular man didn't grovel at her feet or treat her with indignation.

"Let me see your face, Arc." She put a hand on her hip and stared up at him. Even when she the shorter one she easily dwarfed his presence in the room.

"Your wish is my command, oh Princess." He bowed sarcastically, ensuring that he didn't hit her with his war wings, and straightened up and twisted his helmet, lifting it off. His face was remarkably soft, his blonde locks look like they were made of the softest material. His mouth was in between the transition from boy to man. His eyes however… They were the eyes of a dead man. It was if he knew that he was ultimately expendable, and that the next day could be his last.

Weiss felt a small feeling her chest when she made this revelation. 'Why fight?'

She must've said that out loud for he tilted his head. "Because not everyone can. I fight for those who can't. The elderly, the sick, the frail. I fight so they don't have to."

"But you're expendable, are you not?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Regardless if I'm expendable or not, I will still fight. The only people who matter in this war are you, High Commander and the other Commanders. Me and everyone else is expendable, I see it to be true."

"You are either incredibly brave or incredibly naive." She scoffed at him and crossed her arms.

"I am neither brave nor very smart. It's a sense of duty. The Arc family has never shirked away from their duty when their country comes calling."

"So you're doing this due to a sense of duty?"

"Not 100%, but aren't you doing this out of a personal sense? I mean, beg your pardon, but I don't think you would've helped if this war didn't affect you at all."

'So nonchalant about his mouth, no wonder High Commander is so fond of him.' She drew herself up and looked him in the eyes again. She felt this tug in her chest. 'Where are these thoughts coming from? He's but a bloody fool!'

The look he gave her brought the Princess back to reality. "So, you are assigned as my guard for the duration of my stay in this war?" She had to know what that entailed.

"Why yes, every wish you give I must do as if commanded. If you request that I bring you a glass of milk every day with a cookie, I will endeavour to do so. If you ask me to throw myself in front of a blade to protect you, then I will indeed do so." He said so bluntly, as if the idea of death didn't perturb him.

"If I was to ask you to help me dress every morning, would you do that?" Her lips curled with a hint of humour. 'How far does his loyalty go? I wonder how far I can push him.'

He immediately knew what game she was playing, and he showed that with a tilt of his head and the raise of a brow. "You have retainers to help you with that, but if you specifically ask me to, I will do so. Never done that before so the first few times might be awkward."

He stood up straight. "I beg your pardon, your Highness. But I have other duties that I am assigned to and I must complete them. However, I will return once I am able." He bowed deeply as the waist before marching out of the tent, leaving a curious and smirking Weiss alone.

"How did it go, Ladykiller?" A sensual voice came from his right that made him nearly fly with his wings. He stopped and looked at the source of the voice and immediately came to attention and saluted.

"Commander Aurora! Ma'am!" He stood straight as a statue and stared straight ahead.

"At ease soldier, no need to be so tight around me. You're not in my jurisdiction so please, let us converse as if equals." She cocked her hip and stared at him with a playful smirk.

Commander Aurora was similar to Commander Midnight, but a little more playful and flirtatious. But everyone would agree that she is one of the best fighters in their army, second only to High Commander. So she can talk the talk and walk the walk as it were.

Her yellow coloured plate mail shone dully in the morning light. She enforced to wear plate that wasn't contoured to her body, but rather just regular plate mail. On her hands were two vicious looking cestus' that were famed to conjure fire and explosions every time she fought. Jaune had never seen her fight before but he hoped that he was well away from the action, the likelihood of collateral nearly scaring him pantsless.

But the most noticeable part about her was her eyes and her hair. Her eyes were of a soft lilac and always had a sparkle to them that never failed to incite bravery and honour in the most cowardly of knights. Her hair cascaded down her back and were as soft as silk, radiating its own light. Many of the soldiers in the army likened her to an Angel, if an Angel kicked ass and made grown knights soil themselves.

"Fine, Aurora."

"Much better, no back to what I was saying. How did it go?" She tossed her hair around and began to fiddle with it as she smiled.

He thought for a moment, "Alright? I suppose? Nothing scandalous of the sort. She just tested to see how far my loyalty to my orders go, a little too far I believe but what do I know? I'm a Scout Leader, no one pays for my opinion." He set off in the direction of his own tent, the giggling blonde following him.

"Oh! She took it too far did she? What did she ask? Favours? Secret access to High Commander's life?" She bounced along, playfully prodding him in the arm with each question asked.

"What? No, she just wanted to know if I would die for her or whatever, you know basic body guard stuff."

She giggled, "Awww I've never seen you so flustered. Maybe she has a little space reserved in your head. I mean, she is a looker and all but I thought you fancied the High Commander."

He slumped his shoulders. "Was it that obvious? I thought I was a bit more subtle than that." He murmured morosely.

"Awwww come on cheer up! She hasn't mentioned it nor has she pushed you away, so there may be hope yet." She ruffled his hair, much to his chagrin.

"Hey, quit it." He attempted to put her in a hold but they've played this game plenty of times before. She could only smirk as she twisted around while kicking his legs out underneath him, mounting him.

She could only giggle as she saw the squirming man underneath him. While he looked uncomfortable, they both secretly love to play this game. A Battle of the Blondes as it were.

"Still haven't learned have ya?" The busty blonde teased the man underneath her, giggling as she poked him in the nose.

"Well I'm not the one who prefers to beat people to a bloody pulp. But if you are offering to teach I'll be a wonderful student."

"Oh you'd like that wouldn't you? I suppose it wouldn't be too bad for me to give you a few pointers. But you could never beat me." She said in a sultry tone before kissing him on the forehead and spinning off, marching to her own war band.

He was dazed a bit, rubbing his head. 'She is something else entirely. I'm always left dazzled after she sees me.' He got up with a groan and watched as she walked away. He shook his head and cleaned himself off before striding back to his tent.

He opened the flaps and saw a folder of orders. With a heavy sigh he unfurled them and began to read. His face became more and more concerned with each passing sentence. "This changes everything."

"Changes what?" A soft voice came from behind, to which he immediately placed it as Cerise. With a heavy sigh he turned around and plastered a fake smile on his face.

"Commander Cerise. Nothing's changed just an annoying order from High Commander, nothing too serious." He waved it off with a smile and placed the orders on his desk before saluting.

"Always the gentleman, you gotta loosen up Jaune. Call me by the nickname you have for me, Little Red" The small female giggled before engulfing him in a bear hug, which was impressive since they both wore plate mail.

"I keep getting that, don't think it'll ever happen though, too much of an army man at heart." He apologised half heartedly as he tiredly took off his wings and placed them on the ground and unbuckled his sword.

"You rely too much on the Army Jaune. You are more than the Army, you are a good man." Red implored of him, reaching out and touching his arm. "You are destined to be greater than most people, you have a destiny, a purpose beyond being a swordsman."

He chuckled mirthlessly. "I love your faith in me Red, but the Army is all I've known. You, High Commander, the Princess and the other Commanders. You are destined for greatness." He stopped and stood in front of her, peering down into those beautiful silver eyes and felt his heart flutter. "You are far more than we could ever know, you guys are what matter. And if I do fall, I just hope it's so you can keep fighting." He kissed her on the cheek before holding her.

Red couldn't stop the tears prickling her eyes as she held him against her tightly. 'Why can't he accept the truth that he's a brilliant man!? Why can't he just believe in himself to be more than he is!?'

"Hey now, look on the bright side. My new orders take me beyond the beautiful countryside, a scouting mission of sorts." He patted her on the back and held her head to his chest.

"Where? Where are they sending you?" She let him go and rubbed the tears out, smiling up at him.

"They have reports of a large group of Alphas and Majors wandering away from the main group and heading around our forces. My group and I are to keep an eye on them and if they pose a threat to our position here, we are to stop them."

"But you're not a front line force, what is High Commander doing sending you against such a formidable force?" She mentioned with a concerned look on her face.

He chuckled. "I assume you've never seen us fight. That's ok, we're barely on the front lines so I don't blame you if you haven't. We fight unconventionally so unless you see it, it can be hard to explain."

"When do you move out?" She fiddled with her chest plate.

The Knight looked over at her and couldn't help but feel the flutter in his chest. 'She's so precious and adorable!' Her plate was more coloured red with a silver rose emblazoned onto the chest. She wore a traditional armour garb like the other Commanders, which included a white surcoat with the symbol of Beacon emblazoned on it. Underneath was a suit of chain mail and a gambeson.

But what was most peculiar about her, was her choice of weaponry. She opted out for a large collapsible war scythe that followed a colour scheme of black and red.

Odd, but adorable.

"I move out tomorrow morning, as I am assigned to guard our Highness. So yay for me," He sighed before collapsing onto his cot, rubbing his hand over his face. He felt a thump as Cerise landed next to him and poked his cheek.

"I'm worried, Jaune." She eyed him intensely, her silver eyes glittering in the dim light.

He turned over and peered into her eyes. "I'll be fine, I've been a Scout Leader for nearly 3 years so I have learned some stuff from the trade. But it warms my heart to no end that you care about me." He smiled at her and poked her cheek.

She gathered a small blush in her cheeks and looked away. "Jaune, you are a promising leader. And I don't doubt that you'll eventually be promoted to Commander. I don't think I have ever heard anyone under your command cry or groan about it and they seem to go into it willingly."

"What are you trying to say, Red?" He peered at her curiously.

"You have this amazing talent, a special ability. You can inspire even the most scared of foot soldiers. A coward, would become a fearsome warrior under your command. It's an amazing ability, and we Commanders have it because we must. But for you, it's natural."

His cheeks went red at the praise. "Maybe I'm not that bad of a leader."

She sighed in relief before headbutting him softly. "FINALLY! It's gotten through that thick head of yours!" She giggled and swatted him in the head softly.

"Hey! I'm not that bad!" He chuckled before sitting up. "Do I have to always wear my wings?"

"Of course you do, dummy! It's a symbol of your skill and your position!"

"But they're so bloody heavy! Like honestly I feel badass when wearing them but my back kills me at the end of the day." Jaune grumbled half heartedly.

"Oh well, suck it up buttercup." She blazed him a smile as if she was the sweetest thing in the world. Hint hint, she is.

"You are evil incarnate. I doubt even Hell would accept you." Jaune joked with her.

"That's cause I own it, I'll save you a seat." She elbowed him in the ribs a bit before the pair burst into laughter, leaving a comfortable silence.

"So Aurora nearly assaulted me." Jaune segued.

Cerise just burst into giggles and rolled around on the cot. "Oh my gosh I can imagine what happened!" She continued laughing.

Jaune just smiled in humility. "Nothing bad happened! She just got on top and offered combat lessons!"

She started to wheeze from laughing so much, tears streaming down her face as she rolled around and kicking the air. "That's hilarious!"

It was a while until she calmed down and hugging Jaune. He smirked at her. "Welcome back to the land of the living Commander."

She hiccupped from the laughter and giggled a bit before separating. "What do you think the Princess will ask you to do?"

Jaune let out an involuntary shudder as the prospects flooded his mind. "Hopefully nothing too awful."

They were interrupted by a rapping on the pole. "Jaune Arc! You are requested by Weiss Schnee!"

Jaune groaned before looking at her. "The axe descends, see you later." He ruffled her hair before standing up, buckling his sword on and his wings before stepping out. "I know my way, please go back to your post."

The guard saluted and Jaune continued onwards to Weiss' tent. 'It's pretty opulent, why not kiss her ass while we're here?' He sighed before stopping and rapping the pole in front.

"Jaune Arc."

"Enter, Arc." That crisp and authoritative voice cut through the material and struck a chord in Jaune.

'Does she always have to be so domineering? Like loosen up bloody Nora,' He huffed before entering said tent and stood attention at the Princess in front of him. "Jaune Arc, at your service."

Weiss studied him with those ice cold eyes, covering every inch of his person before crossing her legs. "Arc, you are assigned to me as my personal guard, correct?" She enquired while tilting her head.

'We've been through this before, bloody Nora.' He kept a silent sigh to himself before addressing her, "Naturally, your Highness. I will do whatever you request of me," He bowed with a flourish.

"Good, I had to make sure as today I am going to find clothing befitting my stature," She glared at him as if expecting a rebuttal, "And you will be assisting me in the endeavour."

He blinked once to acknowledge the request, 'Are you literally kidding me? I'm more than a glorified pack mule!' He took a deep breath before bowing his head, "Naturally, your Grace. The nearest area for purchase of such clothing is less than a day's ride from here, less on my own war horse. I assume that the High Commander has been notified and is willing to comply such a request?"

She scoffed at him, "Of course but you are under my rule as of right now, so she has relinquished complete control of you over to me. How you are used is up to my choosing," She said it as if it was nothing else to be expected of.

"Of course, your Grace," He bowed his head again. "When are you willing to leave?"

"Immediately," She cocked an eyebrow at him before rising, presenting herself in all of her regal glory and strode out of the tent.

Jaune could only roll his eyes as he left the tent and overtook the Princess as they left for his horse. She was already saddled and awaiting for their arrival, giving a small whinny in greetings before trotting over and butting him in the arm. He smiled before kissing the bridge of her nose and rubbing it intensely.

The horse blew its lips before shaking her mane. She looked over at the Princess and nodded her head before standing still.

Jaune lent down and offered a hand for Weiss to use as a boost. She accepted it gracefully and mounted the horse in a way that suggested she was experienced in such matters.

Jaune mounted her as well and one of his retainers handed him a helmet, to which he gratefully accepted, locking it in place. "We have a long time to ride Princess, so don't get too bored on me now." He kicked his heels softly and the horse slowly sped up to a gallop, shooting out of the opened portcullis and out onto the field behind the main base.

* * *

It was silent for a long time before Weiss spoke up, "So, what makes you and your horse so special?"

He pondered for a bit, "My war mate has always been special as she comes from a long line of well established breeders. As for me? Nothing much. While the wings do show off a certain status, I am far from the most competent soldier in our battalion. You'll be looking at the Commanders for that," He slowed the horse down to a trot as she caught her breath.

"But you are the leader of your own group, are you not?"

"Indeed I am. I am the leader of our scout group. Unlike most scouting groups, we are comprised of the best soldiers in the troop so if we are caught in a fight we will more likely come out unscathed," He pondered for a moment, "I've only been assigned as leader for about three years now? So I'm relatively new to the post."

"What happened to the previous leader?"

"Got impaled by a Nevermore feather, poor bastard," He said it so nonchalantly it bothered her somewhat.

"I notice you lack ranged weaponry, how do you deal with such threats as Nevermores and Griffons?"

"About every second soldier in my troop has a bow, and every third has a hand cannon of some sort."

"How big are the bows?"

"Taller than you and with a draw weight exceeding 50 kilograms. They can do a lot of damage when they are used efficiently."

"I am not that small!" She mumbled indignantly.

"No, you're not. But it wouldn't matter if it did, you'd still be beautiful," He kept focussing on the path ahead of them.

She stared at him with a gaze that was torn between intrigue and confusion. She shook her head before changing the subject, "So High Commander, what's her story?"

"I do not know the High Commander beyond her title, all I know is that she's in charge so she's the one I follow," He stated casually, as if it was the natural order of things.

"Wait, how long have you been in the Army?"

"Five years."

"How old are you!?"

"I'll be twenty four come next month."

"You've only been in the Army for five years and you've been promoted to the post of Scout Leader in your third year? And you tell me that there is nothing between you two?"

"High Commander does not support needless personal relationships. She has no time for relationships beyond that of Soldier and Leader," He said crisply and with finality.

"What a lonely life."

"Coming from a snooty Princess that lived in a tower for the majority of her life?" Jaune snarked.

"It wasn't my choice to be locked in that tower you walking pile of tin metal." Weiss huffed angrily before letting him go.

He couldn't help but chuckle while leaning forward. "Well… Welcome to Atlas, at least a small part of it."

The city was sprawling with people and a slight noise could be heard as people bartered, traded and heckled prices. High walls border the city and there was an active security presence which ranged from Rangers in nests to Paladins lining the entrance gates.

"How long were you in that tower for?" Jaune enquired as he clicked his tongue for his horse to move forward.

"Ummm, around when I started to show signs of my heritage. My family has a heretical Semblance rather than a random one. Which is the ability to cast and manipulate Glyphs. Very useful."

Jaune pondered a moment, 'Is that why High Commander needs her? That is indeed a very powerful Semblance. I just wonder what she's like in combat.' He shook his head. "Wait, how did you survive in that tower?"

"There were food facilities in a floor above my room and my father ensured that a month's worth of rations would always be delivered to my tower."

"Why did he put you in a tower? I don't see how it protected you when I easily took you out."

"It's complicated… He put me in a tower so the wrong people wouldn't use me the way they wanted to. And how they would be stopped is that for me to leave, they would have to get passed the insanity charm. An added caveat is that I have to want to leave. Otherwise other things may happen if I did not want to leave…"

"I'm glad I convinced you then."

"Yes you rather were very lucky." She smirked and sighed as she let the air dance through her hair.

The trio travelled down the hill and approached the opposing gates. They were immediately stopped by a Paladin in more ornate armour. "Purpose and duration of stay?"

Jaune flicked his thumb at Weiss on his back. "Princess Schnee wants to go on a shopping spree, I'm the unlucky body guard. We'll be here for half a day I believe."

The guard nodded before the large gate split opened and revealed the life and heart of the city. Weiss couldn't help but hold onto Jaune tightly.

"That's right, this is kinda your first introduction to a large city isn't it?"

Weiss nodded, "I'm a bit worried about the possibility of assassins. My father and his company isn't very well liked."

Jaune nodded, "I am well aware of that. But not to worry, I'm here."

"Wish I had my rapier."

"I did pack it, it's slung on the side but you won't need to use it and I'd rather you didn't."

"Also why are you wearing your wings? Won't that make you stick out like a sore thumb?"

"We are a representation of His Majesty's authority. To attack a solder with wings is to attack the King himself."

"Fascinating, so I could potentially be hanged for what I did to you." She smirked and watched his face.

He couldn't stop a smile from spreading, "Well… I think we can come to a mutual agreement where that doesn't come up."

"Are you blackmailing a Princess?" Weiss asked haughtily.

Jaune saw right through her, "Oh dear lady! It would be uncouth of a person such as I to put you in such a position that would besmirch your honour! Take it back I beg thee!"

"… Are you sure you couldn't have gone into theatrics?"

Jaune ignored that and started to look for a clothing shop. Sure enough, it turned out to be one of the more opulent ones. He stopped his steed in front of the shop. "Here's a good place enough, please keep in mind that the Crown will pay for any expenditures, but please use common sense and decency." Jaune said drily. He dismounted and offered Weiss a safe descent.

Weiss scoffed before accepting the assistance and glided into the shop. Jaune shook his head before patting his beloved war mate on the nose.

The horse gave him a look he knew far too well. "No I am not developing a crush on her. It's purely a Princess and Bodyguard relationship, nothing will come of it." The horse regarded him again. "The only lady I need in my life is you, High Commander and the Princess are nothing compared to you." The horse rolled her eyes before grumbling in a satisfied expression.

Jaune shifted a bit and kept scanning with his eyes. Weiss did bring up a good point about assassins and despite him representing the direct authority of the King, there would be some unscrupulous ruffians who would like to take the chance on taking a Hussar in for ransom. Luckily he had his war mate with him, to which brought a calming effect of security and assurance.

Jaune's horse wasn't like any other. True it may be that she is the fastest war horse in the army, but she has the special training that only select few horses gain. She is very smart, almost frighteningly so. She not only listens to any noise and watches any movement, but she actively works with Jaune to ensure that they both get home safely.

It was this training that caused her to rumble her chest in a warning. Jaune nodded before patting her on the head, signifying that he heard her warning. His focus sharpened immensely as he searched for what set her off.

She shook her head upwards, to the right, before playing it off as natural horse attitude. Jaune understood that their quarry was situated to the rooftops and to their right. He didn't move his head, but he could just pick out a shape darker than the roof tiles.

His hand grasped his sword tightly, it would not do well to draw a weapon while out in public. He may be a direct representation of the King's authority, he must still be civil. Half of his mind wanted to evacuate Weiss out of here, but most likely she would be in a compromising position. And what about assassins inside?

He growled in annoyance before unclasping the wings around his waist and placed them on his horse. He gave her a reassuring pat before striding into the store. 'Where could she be?"

The search proved fruitful as he guessed the large pile of neatly folded clothes was Weiss'. He looked around for a place to be inconspicuous and noticed a suit of armour without an opposing partner. He took it upon himself to imitate the suit on its opposite side and watched for any intruders.

If Jaune was asked how he knew it was them, he wouldn't be able to give a straight answer. He _felt_ that this person was the assassin, judging by their demeanour and the purpose they strode with towards the large pile of clothes. Their face was covered, and their hair into a rather interesting pony tail. But she had a dangerous air about her, one that Jaune did not trust one bit.

He was about to intervene when he saw a glyph appear silently behind the assassin. Then, without a warning, Weiss burst through the curtains with a sailing kick that sent the assassin flying through the glyph and into the thick support post.

Jaune was at a loss for words, before she saw that Weiss was only in her undergarments. Unfortunately he didn't react quick enough before Weiss saw him and strode over to deliver a nasty slap. "DON'T LOOK YOU PERVERT!" People looked over with shock as the scene.

Jaune's face flushed before his eyes drifting over to the would-be assassin. "Get dressed and prepare to move out now." He strode forward and unleashed his blade. It was at this moment that people started to scream and leave the building.

"Just a moment!" He heard her say as she struggled on a dress and dashed out with a selection of clothing.

"ARE YOU MAD!?" He could not believe her. Someone had just come here with the intention of killing her and all she could think of was her garments!?

"I'M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT OTHER CLOTHES, ARC! Don't test me!" He just nodded before drawing his attention back to the assassin.

His opponent got up with a grunt. "Intel didn't say anything about glyphs." Their mask broke away to reveal a young face speckled with scales.

Jaune knew who she was.

"Ilia, it's been far too long." Jaune regarded her icily.

"Indeed it has, Jaune. Far too long, how's the scar?"

"It stings every now and then, your whip is rather nasty." Jaune slid into a defensive pose.

"Don't let it bite you then." She took out one of her weapons and shot the revolver at him.

He glanced the shot off his armguard and dove aside as her whip came out and sliced the chair behind him in half. "Weiss! Hurry up!"

"Don't tell me to hurry up!" Weiss yelled angrily.

He dove to the side again and parried a whiplash. Another whip crack brought the weapon around his armguard to which he yanked with all of his might, unbalancing Ilia before he punched her in the mouth his free hand.

She rolled away and scowled, a bloody lip already forming. "Didn't your mother teach you not to hit girls?"

"She did, but she also taught me to defend myself. I think my safety comes before my image." He sent an Aura slash at her to which she had to dodge, right into his punch.

She was staggered against and went on the offensive, whipping her weapon around with lightning fast speed and agility that belied her frame.

"WEISS! ARE YOU DONE!?" Jaune screamed as he parried whiplash after whiplash, already feeling that he was far behind the pace of the fight.

He was answered with said Princess fly kicking Ilia into another support pole. Jaune didn't waste any time to grab her and pull her into the streets and unceremoniously force her to mount the horse, her shopping bags swinging around. Jaune quickly mounted and drove his heels into the horse's sides and bolted away from the scene.

"What was that about!? I'm fighting an assassin and you had to finish shopping!?" Jaune yelled behind him.

"I was not leaving empty handed Arc! And I was not going to steal these clothes!" Weiss countered.

"Bloody hell hurry up next time!" The pair dashed through the gates as gunshots hit close to them. The city guards were confused at the sudden commotion and were trying to find the shooters.

But it didn't matter to them now as Jaune and Weiss galloped across the fields. But they could hear yells and orders being delivered. Weiss tugged onto his surcoat. "We've got company!"

Jaune glanced back and saw five riders on horse, and they were gaining quickly. He coaxed his horse to increase her speed before he reached down into the saddle and pulled out a large pistol. With a practised hand, the pistol was loaded and cocked to which Jaune turned around. "Cover your ears if you value them!"

A deep breath… Sights on the lead rider… Squeeze, don't pull… release the breath… Fire.

The barrel erupted with a deafening **Boom** as the gun fired. The lead rider was sent flying off his horse and into the rear guard. Jaune smirked as he loaded the pistol again.

He glanced forward and saw a familiar figure with a red katana. "Weiss, you're going to have to go on without me."

"What!? What do you mean? You can't possibly think that I'm leaving you to the dogs!"

"My job to ensure that you reach base safely! You are a skilled swordswoman but I refuse to let you endanger yourself! Now get going!" He dismounted and gave his horse an almighty slap, sending the pair rocketing away.

Adam snarled and gestured to Ilia. "Follow her! Do not let her escape!" Ilia nodded before bolting past the pair and began to chase Weiss.

He turned around and steadily approached the katana wielder. "Been a while… Adam."

"Yes it has been a while, I still have much to thank you for. Especially for this scar." He lifted his shirt and a pale white line could be seen going from the ribs diagonally to the collarbone.

"I'm surprised you survive that, I thought I shattered your collarbone."

"Yes I was in immense pain, but that will soon be forgotten by the pure pleasure I'll get out of killing you."

"I should've figured you wouldn't be too far. Where there is Ilia, there is also Adam." Jaune drew his sword and held it in a two handed grip.

"Are you that surprised that we wouldn't be here? I mean, the chance to kill a Schnee doesn't happen every day though. It was unfortunate that her looks are somewhat of a trademark of the Schnee name. It made it all too easy to spot you." Adam smirked as he also held his sword in a two handed grip.

"Always knew that would bite me in the ass, but we didn't have any spare clothes or hair dye." Jaune started to circle him.

The other riders waited obediently on the hill. Jaune would bet everything he had that if he somehow got the advantage over Adam, they would intervene.

"Pity. Maybe it was Fate, maybe it was Destiny. However… Your story ends here, dead at my feet." Adam snarled and followed suit.

"You are truly an amazing story weaver, maybe you can tell your grandchildren once this is all over." Jaune tightened his guard as he watched the sword tip of his opponent.

"You still refuse to kill me? You are so flawed."

That red tip closed the distance between them and met the edge of Jaune's sword.


	3. The Body Guard

Weiss rode like the wind, she could feel it fly through her hair in an exhilarating way. It would've been more wonderful if she didn't have someone chasing her.

'Where did he say he had Myrtenaster? On the side?' She enquired as she began to look into the saddlebags. She reached out for a long case that looked very familiar and pulled it out. The bucking movements of the horse didn't help as they pounded across hilly terrain.

"Easy girl, easy." She rubbed the mare behind the head and felt it relax while still moving. Her body began to naturally attune to the movements of the horse and opened the case with ease. She could only smile as she saw a multitude of different colours wink at her in the sunlight.

She grasped it with a familiar grip and held the trigger down until it landed on cyan coloured Dust. She could only grin as she twisted herself around and leapt off the horse, rolling and immediately using the Dust in her cylinder to send a volley of projectiles towards Ilia.

She saw these coming and dove out of the way, growling in annoyance as she reigned in her own horse. She directed herself towards the Heiress and set her horse to full gallop, whipping her weapon around and striking at her.

Weiss blocked it with ease before revolving the cylinder again, landing on blue Dust and sent an ice wall in Ilia's path. She set the cylinder to revolve again and landed on green Dust, pirouetting and shot multiple rock balls at her.

Ilia's eyes widened at the appearance of the ice wall and was easily overwhelmed by the multiple earthy projectiles. She got up and could only see a dome of white symbols appearing around her, and she felt afraid. Then suddenly, a bullet the size of a human that wielded a rapier dashed between each glyph, striking her as it did so.

She could only scream out in pain as the onslaught continued until the figure stopped and delivered a power laden right across into her jaw, knocking her out cold.

Weiss could only look on in disgust as she wiped off her knuckles. She suddenly remembered Jaune being alone fighting Adam, and fear gripped her heart. With wide eyes, she dashed towards Jaune's horse and mounted her easily, not bothering to wipe her rapier clean.

She wheeled the horse around back to where they came from and urged the horse to full speed, wishing to the gods that she wasn't too late.

* * *

An almighty clang ruptured as their blades clashed together again. They were both similar size and weight wise, but Adam's pure ferocity quickly matched Jaune's enhanced strength training.

"I choose when to kill and when not to kill. I may be foolish but at least my conscience is clear!" With a heave he disengaged the blades and shoved Adam back, a scowl erupting on his face.

"Your conscience!? Your conscience!? What a pitiful thing to argue for! We are both soldiers and we both kill for our own ideologies! The difference between us is that I don't shirk from responsibilities when it comes to slide in the knife!" Adam stepped forward and delivered a series of lunges and slashes.

Jaune stepped back and blocked each strike but they came too close for his liking. "So what if I don't do away with all who stand in my path!? If I start striking down people indiscriminately then I am no worse than the monsters I've sworn to fight!" Jaune delivered an almighty slash that physically shoved Adam back.

Longsword versus katana. Gambeson, chainmail and plate mail versus leather cuirass. On paper it would seem that Jaune could easily win. But there was one thing that could not be put on paper. Adam was lightning fast. His weapon and armour was built purely around mobility and speed in an engagement. That gave him an edge.

Jaune could only go on the defensive with occasional offensive strikes, but he was ultimately blocking the attacks of his opponent. He had to tip the scales into his favour soon or Adam's dream may become a reality.

'Maybe it's time to show my hand.' He grimaced again as Adam dashed forward faster than he could follow and ducked underneath the predictable overhead slash.

He took multiple steps back and reached with his left arm towards the scabbard on his hip. The shield eagerly leapt onto his armguard as he slid his arm across the shield. He then splayed it out, revealing his symbol: Two golden crescent moons joined together across a white field.

Adam was slightly shocked at the revealing of his shield and snarled. "You think a metal pan will save you!?"

"No. But I will." A soft voice came from behind.

* * *

Weiss could only feel elation as she saw that Jaune was still standing, albeit dirty and somewhat bloody. Her irises became slits as she spotted Adam still alive in similar standing. 'How have they not heard me? Are they that focussed?'

"You think a metal pan will save you!?"

Weiss snarled at the man. "No. But I will." She jumped off the horse and landed on the ground, gracefully lifting herself up to full stature with her rapier pointing at him.

"Weiss! What are you doing!? I told you to get away from here!" Jaune bellowed with anger and fear.

"I am not some frivolous girl waiting to be saved!" She spun around and clicked the trigger until it landed on cyan coloured Dust. She advanced a step before doing a series of complicated hand gestures as multiple glyphs appear behind her and sent bolts of explosive energy towards Adam.

He could only grin as he blocked each bolt with his sword. 'Stupid girl.'

"No! It's not that!" Jaune moved in to intercept.

Weiss kept up the barrage, inching forward slowly as she threw in multiple elements into the attack.

"Weiss! STOP!"

Adam withdrew his sword and glowed eerily red, moving his katana faster than the eye can see and delivered a devastating slash towards Weiss.

She would've been severely injured. If it weren't for the fact that Jaune already shoved her away and couldn't stop the scream that erupted from his lips as Adam's blade went through all of the layers of his armour and burying itself in his left shoulder.

Weiss' world went black and white as she saw the horrific wound immediately flood with a dark tinge. 'No, no no no no no!'

She shifted her focus from Jaune to the vile man that did this. The sickening smile on his face, the way he seemed to twist the blade as it was embedded in Jaune's shoulder.

Her eyes went wide as she came back to reality, letting out an unearthly scream as she dashed forward, immediately selecting white coloured Dust. Suddenly, a dome of glyphs appeared around him and all he could feel was pain as Weiss began to lacerate his Aura with multiple passes, her velocity further increased by the glyphs as she bounced around like a pinball.

Adam's Aura persevered for a time until her rapier began to penetrate, slowly drawing from multiple wounds. It wasn't until multiple passes after that before she stopped, leaving Adam bleeding from small cuts and wounds that covered his body. He inevitably collapsed.

She snarled in defiance, pointing her rapier towards the shocked trio of goons that just stood and watched. "Take him, and get out of my sight!" They rushed to follow her orders as they carried an unconscious Adam away, leaving Weiss with Jaune.

His horse rumbled in worry as Weiss struggled to sling Jaune over the saddle, picking up his weapons and putting it away. Weiss mounted the horse and whipped the reins, wheeling it around and bolted back to the direction of their base. "Come on girl! Come on!"

* * *

Pyrrha looked at the maps that were splayed across the table in a haphazard fashion. "So that report we had before was inaccurate, they are closer and larger than we anticipated."

The scout nodded. "Yes Ma'am, they appeared to have hidden the Death Stalkers from us when we first scouted them, and they've been whipped into a frenzy and are going at a pace faster than a walk."

Pyrrha nodded grimly. She didn't like this one bit; all of her forces were deployed in the best positions possible for the inevitable battle that will ensue in a weeks' time. "We can't spare any more bodies. Arc's forces are going to have to meet this menace on their own."

Midnight moved forward a bit and tapped a finger on the table. "If I may High Commander, perhaps Commander Aurora and I could assist him?"

Pyrrha thought for a second, only for a second though. "No, I can't risk the chance of this being a feint and end up having the Grimm break through the lines cause the Commanders were preoccupied. No, Jaune must do this with his own war band."

"But his war band is no where near large enough for a force this big." Aurora protested.

"But they are far more skilled than your average warrior, I believe in them that they can do this. Can't you?" Pyrrha enquired of her.

"There is a difference between a difficult challenge and a slaughterhouse. This force is certainly one to gulp at, but the fact that Death Stalkers exist in that force sends alarm bells through my head. You are telling me there is not a contingent of snipers or artillery that can help them in this?"

"No! There is not! If I had the forces to spare I would throw every single one of them into Arc's war band! Don't test my patience, Aurora."

Aurora looked like she was about to blow up before Midnight calmed her down. "You may take your leave, scout and Commanders."

She was left alone in her tent, she then suddenly slammed the table. "Goddamn you Salem!"

"High Commander! High Commander!" A guard from the perimeter came bursting in.

"Speak your mind." Pyrrha looked up at him.

"Arc's horse is on the horizon Ma'am! And she's got the Princess and another body slung across her Ma'am!"

Pyrrha felt like the blood in her veins froze. She didn't waste time by dashing past the guard and rushing to their post. There, she could definitely see Jaune's horse, but the absence of his wings began to drop balls of lead in her stomach.

"What are we waiting for!? Send an escort!" Everyone was snapped out of their stupor as four riders dashed forward and began a simple diamond formation around the horse.

The horse itself was ragged and gasping for breath as it shuffled forward in obvious pain. Weiss wasn't much better herself with bags underneath her eyes and slouching in the saddle. They drew up to Pyrrha who only gave a look over. "Take these two back to the medic tent and give this horse tentative care now!"

Multiple handlers got Weiss and Jaune off the horse and led her away to the stables, leaving the two riders being dashed into a medical tent.

Pyrrha followed them the whole way and could not feel her heart squeeze at the sight of his shoulder wound. 'This guard detail wasn't meant to put him in this situation…' She groaned inwardly and watched helplessly as they stripped Jaune of his armour and gambeson, his wound visible for all to see.

It was brutal, and many walked away with pale face as Jaune was laid on a bed. Gauze was immediately put on his shoulder as it leaked out his life force. The head doctor came in as he pulled on gloves. "It seems like the wound was partially cauterised, might've saved his life. Who did this? Was it you?" He directed to a half comatose Weiss who could only nod feebly.

"Excellent, please check her for injuries and get her to a bed." The doctor looked over the wound and winced. The bone wasn't shattered luckily, but there was still a lot of muscle damage and undoubtedly nerve damage.

Aura can do plenty of amazing things. But it won't completely fix this, not without medical attention.

It took hours for the Doctor to be happy with the work that has been done to his shoulder. Jaune was still unconscious. The Doctor was cleaning his hands before he looked over at Pyrrha. "He'll be fine when he wakes up, just with a hell of a lot of pain, the stitches will hold as long as he doesn't go berserk with his arm… You may have to take him off the mission you have for him tomorrow."

Already Pyrrha was shaking her head. "No, I cannot. It is of too much importance for him to be absent. He must press on."

"Surely there are more skilled soldiers in his war band? Surely someone could take his place?"

Pyrrha shook her head again. "It's not just that… It's also his innate ability to draw the courage from their hearts. He makes them feel like they're fighting for a worthy cause. He may think himself as a useless soldier but in reality, he is by far the most charismatic young man I have ever met."

"So when he rides to fight, he rides for all of them?"

"Essentially yes, and I'm sure that the men would prefer him to ride with them."

"But what about his injuries High Commander? I cannot condone the active harming of a healing patient." The Doctor protested.

"Hasn't he always had a potent Aura?"

"Yes, but this one attack went through all of his remaining Aura and went through his three layers of armour. And that wasn't cheap armour either."

"Yes I'm well aware of that… How long until he can ride?"

He looked over Jaune again with a studious eye. "At least 8 hours."

"He has 6."

"High Commander…"

"I do not make these plans lightly Doctor, I regret to say that we need him when he is at his worst."

"I can give him some painkillers when he wakes up, but if he survives the fight that you're sending him on, I will have to restitch his wounds." The doctor huffed in annoyance.

"Will they affect his mind?" Pyrrha looked down at the resting face of Jaune.

"He will be slightly fuzzy but after an hour or so, but after that he'll be fine."

"Good, please do that as soon as he wakes. I have to arrange things."

"Of course." The Doctor conceded before walking away with a clipboard.

Pyrrha was left alone with the unconscious form of Jaune, who was breathing shallowly. "I'm so sorry for putting you through this, but I hope you will forgive me." She whispered softly as she brushed some hair out of his face.

She left him in his bed, but Weiss was still there. She felt slightly better, and held her blanket around her as she rose from her bed and walked over to his bed, sitting in the chair next to it. Her eyes fell upon him, and she couldn't help but reach out and intertwine his fingers with her own.

He had kept his word, he had promised to lay down his life and his body for her. But that didn't help the guilt that she felt. She looked at the wound that was wrapped and squeezed his hand tightly, a tear falling down her cheek. "I am so sorry, Jaune…"

She fell asleep like that, her grasp on his hand loosening, but never letting go.


	4. The Struggles of Command

_AN: There is a few lines from a Sabaton song called "Gott Mit Uns". Just a heads up._

Weiss woke up to shouting and the flicking of reins. Groggily, she opened her eyes and saw Jaune's bed empty, panic began to creep up on her. As fast as she could in her drugged state, she dashed out of the tent and saw files upon files of horseman ride past her tent, each warrior wore a pair of wings around their waist.

She looked at each face before another ride came in front of her. "Move up, we must stop this attack in its tracks! Double time it ladies and gents!" His visor was closed but his voice was unmistakable.

"Jaune! Where are you going?" Weiss called out desperately.

He was still in a bad shape, his arm was still in a sling and there was specks of blood on the bandage that was on his shoulder. He didn't hesitate open up his visor to smile down at her. "It's fine Weiss, I'm just slightly sore but nothing that should affect me too badly." He gave her a thumbs up with an enthusiasm he wish he truly had.

"But you're injured!" Weiss yelled indignantly.

"I know that, but I'll be fine. My men and I will be fine."

"It's not your men I'm worried about." She mumbled shyly while she looked away.

A look of sadness befell Jaune as he lifted his visor and stared down at her with his sapphire blue eyes. "I understand how you must be feeling. And it's not your fault." When she stayed silent he sighed softly. "When I come back, we can have a talk alright?"

"You promise you'll come back? I can't stand the idea of feeling so guilty for the rest of my life." She hugged herself tightly, looking up at him as she did.

He couldn't help but smile at her and held a hand over his heart. "Arc's word Weiss. And I never go back on my word." He waited for a second longer before closing his visor and sending his horse galloping to catch up with the line.

He came to the front and slid next to his second in command. "How many?"

The blonde boy next to him gave a blazing smile of confidence. "Ya know, I think we got a good turnout. At least five hundred people from my count." He was so excited the tail, his Faunus trait, was vibrating.

Jaune looked behind them and nodded. "It'll have to do. Let's go." Without further contact, Jaune set off at a gallop and the column behind him slowly but surely picked up the pace. Jaune couldn't help but feel worried as the camp behind them got smaller and smaller.

He looked to the side and saw his Second. "I feel uneasy."

"Well then sing one of the march songs, they always seem to whip them up morale wise."

"Mmmh maybe you're right, but this isn't going to be an easy fight… People aren't going to come back from this."

"Yet we still follow you regardless. How bout you just focus on leading us on horseback and we'll handle ourselves." He gave a reassuring smile and a slug into his right shoulder.

Jaune couldn't help but smile with him as he felt his spirits lift slightly. He looked down at the column and saw each pair of eyes etched with passion, trust and determination. He felt a tug at his heart as he released that not every pair would make it home.

He increased the pace to a gallop, the low thunder of hooves could be heard throughout the whole column. Jaune bowed his head and tried to think which march song to sing. With a smile he lifted his head and began to sing.

"Spend the night in formation… To the battle we march in the dawn. We're ready to fight for our King, on the fields of Remnant!" The whole column began to follow his lead.

"Fire at will! Aim for the Ursa! Counter attack! Thunder of guns!" The whole column erupted in energetic singing.

"Gott mit uns. As we all stand united. ALL TOGETHER! GOTT MIT UNS!" The column picked up speed as their voices filled the air, energising the atmosphere and emboldening all the warriors.

"From the old world's demise! See an empire rise! From the north reaching far, here we are!" They were galloping forward with energy rarely seen from a column of soldiers. Jaune couldn't help but feel pride as he saw the grinning faces behind him.

Pyrrha gazed wistfully at the slowly shrinking column of winged soldiers on horseback as they rounded the pass. She slowly gripped her forearm and felt a sense of dread as the last soldier disappeared from view.

* * *

The column still had a long way to go as they scaled a nearby mountain. Jaune was keeping active as he constantly trotted down the column of soldiers. They were singing their own little bits of songs, to which he approved of greatly as it took their minds off the battle ahead. However, there was something that he noticed amongst the war band… It felt larger than when they first left.

"Wait, Joncquil. How many soldiers did you say we have?" He enquired, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"Five hundred, why? We got some missing?" He asked with concern on his face.

"No, we have a few extra as a matter of fact." He nodded to him to watch the rest of the column as he urged his horse close to a rider that didn't seem very familiar.

"You know, I'm actually quite concerned about the safety of my soldiers. That includes you as well."

They stayed silent, which only further incensed his suspicion. "Though I like to imagine I know every man and woman in my war band. But that is wishful thinking at this point."

More silence…

"Which is why I'm wondering. Why would you be here?"

They didn't move a muscle, not even a squeak came out of that full faced helmet. Jaune's upper lip twisted before he drew his sword in a lightning quick manoeuvre, blade resting on the neck guard. "Helmet, now."

The column went around them as the pair stopped. Some looked to them with slight interest but disregarded it as unimportant, they had a place to be god damnit. The figure let out a feminine sigh before twisting the helmet off, revealing two adorable cat ears.

"Pulling your sword on an innocent woman? How depraved you've become Jaune." That trademark smirk of Midnight graced her face, she wiggled her cat ears adorably and gave him a beaming smile. Jaune felt disarmed as he lowered the blade.

"Midnight!? What are you doing here?!" Jaune spluttered out in confusion and worry.

"Help you with this fight you're being sent off too. What? You honestly believed that we would just watch you ride off into the sunset without any form of assistance?" Midnight cocked her hip while on her horse, this woman was just sass incarnate.

"You were supposed to command your ground force back at base! What if High Commander finds out!?" Jaune stressed out by grabbing his head.

"She won't, at least not for a while." She smirked and winked at him.

"Wait…" He sighed before facepalming himself. "Cerise and Aurora! Up front!" His call was answered by two other riders breaking away from the column and trotting their way over. "Helmets off."

The two riders twisted their helmet off and out came a bushel of blonde hair and a well maintained head of black and red hair. Jaune sighed as two familiar, smiling faces appeared before him. "Cerise... Aurora… Why are you here?"

"To help ya of course! Why even ask that question you silly blighter?" Aurora leant over and ruffled his hair. Jaune just glowered at her.

"You are all in deep brown matter you know that right?" Jaune crossed his arms as he was not impressed.

Cerise just gave him a dazzling smile. "Don't worry Jaune! We'll be here and back before she even realises it! Our Seconds are competent enough to take our place if need be, that's how we train them."

Jaune just massaged the bridge of his nose before releasing a pent up sigh. "Alrighty, well I can't do anything about it now so I should just role with it, I guess." He whipped the reins and started off towards the front of the column, gesturing for the trio to follow.

They reached the front, where Joncquil was just entertaining himself with flicking his tail until he looked behind. "It looks like we've got some spares!" He gave each girl a dazzling smile to which they returned.

"Yes… Quite. Stowaways would be the right word for them." Jaune added with impatience.

"Come on, loosen up Jauney boy. We could use all the help we could muster, this isn't going to be easy." He ribbed Jaune a bit before the older man had to concede.

"True… I'll just have to teach them how we fight is all. Hopefully that won't take long at all." He shook himself awake, wincing slightly at his injured shoulder. "Alright, how we engage the enemy is-."

And he spent the next two hours explaining the tactics and the rules of engagement to the trio. To their credit, they were attentive listeners and did seem to get a solid grasp of things quickly which all laid some worries of his to rest.

"Unfortunately, you aren't equipped with a pistol nor a bow that we carry. So whatever you bring is unique to you and no one else. So once you run out of ammunition, you're out. Keep that in mind next time you want to go up again an Ursa or Death Stalker." He directed that more at Aurora than anyone else, who noticed and gave him a playful smile.

Joncquil rode up to him and handed him a looking glass. "Have a gander. North, just beyond the hill. A dust cloud."

Jaune took the glass and peered through it and surely enough there was a large black and white mass heading towards them. "They are pretty far away, too far for bow shot?" He asked.

Joncquil nodded. "Too far for bowshot. But we can close the distance. But the only thing in front of us is open land, no crags or funnel points we could lure them too. It'll be an open country brawl if we were to engage then."

Jaune tapped his thigh in thought. "So we either hit them far, but they will surely regroup into a stronger formation. But if we charge down their ranks, we'll be facing a full strength force."

Cerise took the looking glass and peered through it. "Death Stalkers, Beowulves, Ursa, maybe a few Beringels? Is that a Nevermore I spot?" She bit her lip. "Wait! You said you wielded pistols and bows, right?"

"Yes, a bit more powerful than your average pistol and bow. What are you getting at? HEY!" He exclaimed as Cerise lunged forward and took out his pistol from the holster and held it up to her inspection.

"Not too bad, single shot but large bore. Does everyone carry both or just one of the two?"

"Just one of the two, we don't have the available equipment and time to be able to field both platforms of weaponry."

"How many shots per weapon does the average Hussar carry?"

"Average? Ten shots of pistol ammunition and twenty arrows for the bow. Bows tend to be faster than pistols."

"Ever done a charging barrage before?" Cerise enquired as she opened the breech loaded pistol and inspected it.

"We have practised that manoeuvre before but it is a rare occasion that we can implement it in the field. But it's not foreign for us." Jaune mused as he rubbed his jaw. "Thinking of doing such a thing?"

"Well it offers the best of both worlds, a volley or two before engaging them in combat."

"Alright, that seems to be the best idea so far, can't think of anything at the moment." He twinged as he rubbed his injured shoulder. "Really hope that fixes itself."

"Shouldn't you see a medic?" Midnight inquired worringly.

"It's fine, just a flesh wound." He grimaced in discomfort.

"There is being brave, and being stubborn. You should really see a medic. Plus you've been a bit hazy as of late I've realised." Aurora pressed.

"It's the side effects of the painkillers that the Doc gave me. I'll be fine, just a bit of an uncomfortable twinge. Speaking of which, this sling can probably come off now." And with that, he took off the sling and stowed it in his saddle bags.

The trio just looked at him disbelievingly before shaking their heads in unison, they knew they weren't going to change his mind. He gave them all a winning smile as he gestured for them to move on. "Come on, got to be at that hill before the Grimm, we'll have the best chance to launch a volley of arrows before galloping down to engage them with a charging barrage." He whipped the reins and galloped onwards, leaving the whole group stunned.

"He's going to kill himself at this rate." Cerise said gloomily.

"That, or a Grimm will." Aurora commented darkly.

They all heard a bark of laughter from Joncquil. They all stared at him balefully before he came to. "You three are way too worried about Jauney boy. He's been doing this for three years and we haven't lost a major skirmish yet. So have faith in our leader. I certainly do." He whipped his reins to follow Jaune.

The trio looked at each other again. "So this is what High Commander Pyrrha meant when she mentioned that he had the infallible ability to strike courage into the hearts of men and women." Midnight commented thoughtfully.

They all looked at each other and shrugged before donning their helmets and galloping to the front of the column where Jaune was.

"I also noticed that you three are wearing Hussar Wings. Impersonating a Hussar is a heinous felony, I will be talking to you three when we are finished here." They heard him call out, to which prompted them to all blush underneath their visors.

* * *

"Damn that's a lot of Grimm. I knew the reports said there were many, but _that_ many?" Jaune commented almost to himself as he peered through the spyglass.

He and Cerise were camped out on a rocky outcrop that had the best view of the valley below. The valley had some boulders and ditches for cover. What was surprising was smaller trenches running across parts of the valley.

"I count at least 200 Beowulves, 100 Ursa and 10 Death Stalkers. Maybe a few Nevermores in the mix. Also count 75 Beringels." Cerise added as a forethought.

"How the hell did such a large force appear out of nowhere so close to our base? Kind of bizarre and unsettling to be honest." Jaune commented with a shiver running down his spine.

"Ever heard of those new Grimm which can teleport large armies?" Cerise looked at him with interest.

"No, not really. We may be the top scouting corps, but we're mainly reserved for deep enemy penetration scouting and rapid surgical strikes. So needless to say, we aren't sent out unless there is some big fish to fry."

"Oh that makes me feel so much better, you being sent out because you are the best." Cerise commented drily.

"Hey, never asked you to come out here, I would've preferred you amongst thousands of skilled soldiers and in the presence of Pyrrha. Not out in the sticks with a contingent of 500 soldiers who are only sent out because we be big, bad and ugly." He smiled at the last part.

Cerise rolled her eyes before staring through the spyglass again. "Those Nevermore's are giving me a bit of a twinge in the gut, they can be outright deadly if they are allowed to harass with their feather barrages."

"I guess that's why we've got pistols and you. I don't think I've ever seen such a large rifle in my life." He commented at Cerise's ridiculously long anti-material rifle which was slung lengthwise across her horse.

"It's my baby, that's for sure. And don't ask how little old me can handle it or I'll whip you with it." Cerise commented snarkily.

Jaune did a faux look of fear before he fake grovelled at her feet. "Please no Commander Cerise! Don't unleash such horrendous power on little Jaune!" He smirked as he looked up and rose from his spot. "I think we've got enough intel to mount an effective offense. Let's just hope we can catch them by surprise."

Cerise followed suit and stretched out. "Well the thundering of our hooves will be hidden by their own noise, and the Nevermore's are staying quite low to the ground. So they shouldn't really see us until we're pretty much upon them… I'm interested in how your group fight."

"Truly unique, I would like to think. But it's a high risk high reward sort of deal." Jaune mounted on his horse as did Cerise.

"I like risks."

"Careful now, don't bite off more than you can chew."

* * *

"Wow, that's a bit more than expected, but we aren't inexperienced in dealing with enemy forces that far outnumber our own in strength or firepower." Joncquil whipped his tail around in deep thought.

"I know, but what intrigues me is to how they got so close without any of our advanced scouts noticing before the border scouts did."

"Maybe the advanced scouts were put down?"

Jaune shook his head before he finished speaking. "No, they are required to report once every third day. And everyone reported as if nothing was odd."

"They couldn't have snuck in, the amount of bodies they have would've worked against them, also really hard to miss a Nevermore or a bloody Death Stalker for that matter."

"There can only be one explanation… Magic."

"Magic?"

"It makes sense doesn't it? What if there was a new Grimm we are unaware of? Cerise did mention such a Grimm that could teleport large masses of Grimm anywhere."

"But the amount of energy that would require, it wouldn't be a frequent thing…"

"And what perfect opportunity than a sneak attack against the enemy's position while they are set for another assault to come a week later? They can't risk the chance of it being a feint and committing a large contingent of forces that were already in place."

"So we're essentially to the do the job that no one else can do?"

"That's the cut and dry of it." Jaune commented drily.

"That really blows."

"Life of a Hussar isn't as glamorous of you thought it was?" He smirked at her as he set off back to their column.

"Glamorous? No. Absolutely boring? Yes."

* * *

They could hear the rumbling before the Grimm broke over that hill in their large numbers.

Jaune looked at everyone and set his mouth into a grim line. "Archers."

Joncquil relayed his command. "Archers!"

In unison, every soldier with a bow drew their weapons and held it how. Jaune held up his hand and took a moment before throwing his arm forward. As if it was his hand releasing the arrows, they leapt and sang towards the black mass in the valley below.

But they weren't done yet. They reloaded and drew their bows. "Fire!"

Another volley leapt from their location and blackened the sky as they pounded into the enemy below. Already it made some difference as large spots of Grimm went down. By now, the Grimm increased their speed and were already a quarter way into the valley.

"Everybody in formation!" Jaune ordered and thundered down the hill, his fellow soldiers forming up into a broad arrowhead formation.

"Archers!" The same actions were relayed as they drew their bows and shot another volley. "Again!" Another volley.

Jaune drew his sword and splayed his shield as he urged his horse to higher speeds. He saw from his peripheral vision the Commanders and Joncquil lining up beside him. By now, they were in an arrow head formation that was twenty five abreast and twenty deep.

The two forces were nearly upon each other. "Pistols! DRAW, AIM AND FIRE!" Two hundred arms drew their pistols. Two hundred hands guided their fingers to the trigger. Two hundred eyes sighted their picture. And two hundred explosions erupted from the whole formation.

The effect was epic. Multiple Grimm were torn to shreds from the absolute hailstorm of lead as the rounds punched through multiple lines of Grimm, laying their bodies to disintegrate.

But now it was nearly time for the melee. Jaune twirled his sword in his hand and presented the point forward, pouring his Aura into his weapon. His movements were copied by everyone in the formation as Cerise and Aurora were given spare swords to participate in the charge at the front.

Their swords began to glow white and bright. But the effect chained together, each blade joining with the other to create a corporeal sword point that was razor sharp and strong as the will of the people who bonded together to wield such a power. All different colours start to shift into it as their personalities and traits and Aura flowed and combined together.

The sight was overwhelming as the two forces clashed together. Howls were immediately heard as Jaune's force trampled through the enemy lines, slicing them to and fro and creating a physical barrier of blade and shield.

The first strike was successful, but the Grimm regrouped faster than Jaune could've imagined, and it wasn't long before soldiers began falling off their horses and being overwhelmed.

Jaune had already jumped off his horse and ran into the fray, sword hacking every enemy in his path as he slowly began to be surrounded as the Grimm realised how important he was.

The fighting was tough, the Beowulves were small fry to someone as skilled as him, the Ursa were manageable but the Beringels were a challenge. They caused him to run, bringing down enemies around him as he sought to escape their gorilla warfare.

By now, multiple soldiers began to fall and not get back up. Some were easily overwhelmed as the hive mind of the Grimm, and some were unlucky enough to be brought to heel.

But then, the Death Stalkers joined in. Soldiers were sent flying into the air, horses whinnied out in pain as they and their rider were overpowered.

Soon, human screams began to mix with the screams of the horses. Pistol shots rang out as soldiers reloaded and kept firing to keep the immeasurable horde at bay.

Cerise was in her element. Her scythe went through the Grimm like a hot knife through butter, cutting down Beowulves and Ursa to the left and to the right. She bounced in between groups only to deliver quick slashes and stabs before bouncing away again. She was truly a force to be reckoned with as she easily cut down swathes of Grimm. But, despite all her effort, people still fell around her.

Aurora easily made the biggest ruckus. Her cestus' slammed through the bodies of the Grimm and sent them flying like bowling balls into the enemy behind them. She was relentless, constantly moving and dashing as she delivered flaming explosive blows to the bodies. She easily overpowered the Ursa and matched with the Beringels in terms of strength and power, but when it came to Death Stalkers she could not take them down without severely injuring herself.

Midnight was an angel of death on the battlefield. Her katana gracefully moved from enemy to enemy as she bounded and bounced towards each foe. She was graceful, she was amazing. She showed pure skilled as she dodged each attack and weaved her counter attacks into her dodges. She was truly a deadly force on the battlefield and made an impact in the fight. But the Beringels random jumping and attacks were too much for her, and she could only tuck her ears in shame and sadness as she couldn't prevent them from destroying the soldiers.

It was hell. Never could they have imagined that they would be as effective as they were now. They all seem to understand what role they played and they played it well.

Jaune was surrounded and bleeding, his injured shoulder was beginning to hinder him and he was tired. The sounds of soldiers falling forever filled his ears. Aura can only take so much, which is why they could stand for as long as they did.

But what made his heart stop, was when he heard a scream of pain that was a specific pitch. With wide eyes he swung around to see Cerise be sent flying into another Grimm, to which she fought off. However, the Grimm that sent her flying closed the gap and had her in its mouth before throwing her into the ground.

Something snapped within Jaune… A protective, primal side of him suddenly surged into life as he felt the blood pumping in his veins. His vision began to pulsate around the edges and his breath quickened.

"This was not what it was meant to be, this was meant to be a simple clean up mission, to protect our base… We weren't meant to be so easily overwhelmed… We are Hussars, why are we thrown around like dolls?" Jaune stressed out as he looked around, he could see Midnight fighting but she was slowly gathering cuts and bruises across her body. Aurora was having the worst of it, her fighting style constantly put herself in danger which was beginning to bear fruit as she was knocked a few feet away and then slammed into the ground by a Beringel.

"Are we truly meant to be nothing but fodder to the Grimm? Why are we so useless in battle?" He closed his eyes and began to shake from his reality warping itself.

"Jaune!" A scream… Cerise…

He opened his eyes suddenly and his pupils became slits. With an unearthly scream he touched the deepest part of his soul. 'Please, give me all that you've got! I want to leave the enemy bare and destroy them!'

He felt that small pulse, the pulse of his Aura. It was still there. And he knew exactly how to use it.

He let his primal side overwhelm him, opening the floodgates of his Aura and felt a massive surge of energy, and it began to hurt. He had to let it loose.

With a scream more unearthly than the last, he reached to the sky and released all of the energy.

The result was explosive. A pillar of light erupted from his body and reached the skies and audibly created a thunderstorm.

* * *

Pyrrha was staring at reports from the Lieutenants when she noticed an increase of bright light erupting from a far distance away. She looked at the pillar of light being looking back at the maps on her desk. She looked between the two and felt her heart drop and her hand went to her mouth. "Jaune..."

* * *

He continued to scream as his whole body began to shake. He had to dispel this energy or he'd be torn asunder. He looked at the field of Grimm in front of him, eyes glowing with the colour of his Aura, and let the energy loose. A large dome erupted from his body and reached high into the sky and across the battlefield. The Grimm in his immediate vicinity were disintegrated and the injuries of soldiers all across the battlefield were healed instantaneously, however some bodies laid still.

Now uninjured soldiers got up with wonder on their faces as they saw the dome they were in and looked towards to the source. Jaune was still channelling this dome and his sword used the Aura to create a larger version of it, giving him a corporeal light sword.

With a heave he slashed the Grimm around him and went berserk, launching himself at a Deathstalker and cleaving it in two before hopping over to Cerise and stabbing all of the Grimm in the vicinity. The soldiers began to cheer as he began to make short work of the Grimm army. They were emboldened by his passion that they banded together and continued the fight reinvigorated.

But he couldn't take another step further before he collapsed onto the ground, the exertion taking a toll on his body. But the damage had already been done and his soldiers routed the Grimm and were already chasing down the stragglers on horseback.

Cerise limped over to him and collapsed to his side, shoving him onto his back and hauling off his helmet. She checked for a pulse and was relieved that she felt one regardless how weak it was. "We need to take him back, he doesn't have much left in him!"

A group of soldiers worked together to haul Jaune into a stretcher that was to be pulled by a horse, his armour was stripped as was his weaponry. Cerise oversaw it and looked over at the field. They had nearly completely destroyed the Grimm force, but the number of soldiers they lost made the victory bittersweet.

Aurora and Midnight rode up next to her and looked at the field before them. "We lost many people today…" Aurora remarked.

"We will only lose more from here on out. We were lucky when Jaune did what he did…" Midnight looked at the barely breathing form of Jaune.

"We must gather those that we've lost and bring them back with us, they deserve a proper burial. And I'm sure Jaune wouldn't want to miss it…" They all nodded in agreement.

"It's a relief to see you three are still alive!" Joncquil rocked up on his horse looking a bit worse for wear. There were blood spots all over himself and his smile was pained. "Thought you'd been carried off."

"Hello Joncquil… It's good to see you are still alive." Midnight remarked.

"Can't keep a scoundrel like me down, I always find a way to survive…" He looked over at the field and his smile somewhat faltered. "The final numbers are 168 dead, and 21 wounded."

"So few wounded?" Aurora commented with amazement,

"Well that dome that Jaune created seemed to have been mixed with his Semblance, so it naturally healed everyone in said dome." Joncquil readjusted his belt and rolled his neck.

"We must head out, we can't stay here any longer than we need to." Cerise whipped the reins on her horse and set the army to move out.

Aurora shook her head as she stared at the back of her sister's head. "Sometimes I keep forgetting she's the younger one."

"Yes she does seem to be wise beyond her years. Or that she is really tired."

They pondered for a moment before they set off after Cerise. Aurora groaned in despair which caused Midnight to look at her. "What seems to be the problem?"

She gave her a sad stare. "High Commander is gonna chew us out so hard for this…"


	5. The Burdens of Duty

"I have nothing to say to you three, other than how disgusted and disgraced I feel from your lack of duty and sense of commitment. You left your posts willingly to help Jaune out on his mission, jeopardizing our hold here and by extension, jeopardizing the war. What do you have to say for yourselves?" Pyrrha stared at all three Commanders harshly with her hands balled up into fasts and she leant on the table.

All three of them stood there at attention, completely mute. They all knew the risks that came with abandoning your posts and not following orders, but they did not regret their actions one bit.

Finally, it was Aurora that spoke up. "With all due respect High Commander, but that order was complete bullshit." She fell silent and continued to stare forward at attention.

"Excuse me?" Pyrrha said with her eyebrow raised.

"She said it was complete and utter bullshit, High Commander. I believe she is of the opinion that your order was not worth following and the opposite should instead have been the true order. I too subscribe to that idea." Midnight spoke up, her face unreadable as a Sphinx.

Pyrrha straightened up and placed her hands on her hips, she looked to Cerise. "Might you have something to add?"

The smaller girl looked up at her with defiance in her eyes. "Yes… I believe that the orders you gave us were wrong… I feel no regret in disobeying you and going to help Jaune. No regrets." She straightened herself up and continued to stare down Pyrrha.

"You are all lucky I do not punish you for abandoning your post and disobeying direct orders. For I do need you three for the projected assault that is to happen within the next four days… I will have a stern talking to you after this whole debacle is over. Now get out of my tent and get out of my sight."

They all followed her orders that time, each Commander striding through the tent flaps with finality and attitude, leaving Pyrrha to slam her fist into the table and curse under her breath. "What am I meant to do with these three!?"

* * *

"She can go get lost for all I care." Aurora huffed as she stood outside Pyrrha's tent, flames started to slightly lick the air from the tips of her hair.

"While I do agree with the sentiment, we could've handled that a bit better. But still, angering her now doesn't grant us any favours." Midnight commented to her flaming partner before crossing her arms.

"Yeah Mi, but we shouldn't have to kiss her ass cause she's got so much brass up there." Aurora growled before pulling back her hair in pent up stress, her back arching to relieve some pressure.

"What about that girl… Weiss was it?" Cerise mentioned offhandedly before looking at the pair. "Have we seen or heard from her since we've returned?"

They both looked at each other before shaking their heads. "No… Not even a peep. What, you think she's at Jaune's bedside right now?"

"I dunno, why don't we go and see them?"

* * *

"Miss Schnee, while I do admire your persistence at staying at his side this is getting ridiculous. It has been a full day and you haven't slept a wink. You must rest." The doctor implored of the awful looking princess.

"I will sleep when my body requires that I do, I will not leave his side." Weiss said with as much authority as she could muster, which wasn't much. The doctor just gave her one last look before departing the tent. The moonlight streamed through the flaps and bathed her in an angelic light.

Weiss reached out and grasped his hand. It was amazing how easily they dwarfed her own and how calloused they were. But despite that, they were still soft. It was as if his hands were a physical indicator of who he was as a person, hard on the outside but he was soft on the inside.

The trio of commanders all watched from the entrance and all regarded the scene. Jaune was deathly pale and his breathing was light and irregular. His use of his Aura in such a way drove him to the brink of death and now his body was desperately trying to recover from such an immense energy surge.

Cerise thought for a moment. "Wait… How did he learn that? The thing with his Aura. I thought that technique was forbidden to practise, much less learn about." She whispered to the other two.

Midnight thought for a moment. "It isn't impossible that he thought of the technique himself, that he just thought to use his Aura in such a way. The reason why it was forbidden is because of how dangerous it is to learn in the first place. If you don't regulate your Aura enough, the energy will literally consume your body. So naturally, a lot of first timers were disintegrated. Jaune was lucky enough to know when to release it."

Aurora looked at Jaune with glittering eyes. "What a badass."

"Aurora! He nearly died and all you could think about is how badass he is?!" Cerise hissed at her older sister.

"What? You can't deny that it was something straight out of fairy tales what he did. There we were, about to lose all hope in humanity. I was down, and Midnight couldn't keep up, you were thrown around like a chew toy. But what happened next was a pillar of pure white light erupted from the battlefield and reached out towards the sky, making a sound akin to the loudest clap of thunder imaginable. After that, the Grimm around him were incinerated into fine ash and he neatly cleaved a Deathstalker in half with one slash of his sword."

Midnight smirked and looked at her. "You know Aurora, with the way you talk about him makes me think you've developed a crush on Jaune."

"What!? No! Why would you think that?" She ended the sentence with a nervous laughter. "Nope, no crushing here. None at all."

Midnight didn't look convinced at all. "Ahuh, you've always teased that poor boy with your body and physical spars."

"Well what can I say? Us blondes know how to have fun."

"You know, I can hear you three depraved women?" A snarky and tired voice came from the still body of Weiss.

The trio looked embarrassingly between each other, with prompted them to enter completely. "S-sorry Weiss, we just didn't want to intrude on the moment." Cerise said with a small squeak.

"Too late now, might as well come in." She mumbled loud enough for them to hear. They took this invitation to pull up a few chairs and sit around Jaune.

"Has he woken up at all?" Aurora asked hesitantly.

Weiss shook her head. "No, hasn't even muttered a word, just mindless babbling but that's rare."

The trio looked at Weiss and she looked bloody awful. Big black bags hung beneath her eyes and her face was strained. "Weiss." Midnight probed gently. "This isn't healthy, you need to sleep. I'm sure that Jaune would understand if he woke up and you were asleep."

Weiss gave her a stern look. "Don't be ridiculous Midnight, how can I leave him alone when he needs me the most?"

"… Is this about the attack?" Midnight probed again. Judging by Weiss' reaction that was exactly what the problem was.

"Why would you think about that? I just care about my body guard." She mumbled and refused look at them.

"Please Weiss, let us help. We can't help you if you don't open up…" Aurora pleaded.

Weiss stayed silent for a long time, before a sob broke out of her and she let his hand go, shoulders shaking. "Did you know that he was injured because of me? I kept attacking this swordsman and he must've had a Semblance that allowed him to store energy, and I just kept attacking him… Jaune was doing fine until I came in. But when I kept coming at him with energy based attacks I was basically feeding my enemy. And when they withdrew their sword to strike at me, Jaune pushed me out of the way and took the blow. He nearly died because of my stupid idiotic mistake…" Weiss fell silent.

Aurora moved over and wrapped her arms around Weiss. "You were trying to help, there was no way you could've known what he was capable of. And I think he would've taken the blow regardless if he thought he would've died." Weiss nodded and began to shake as she buried her face into Aurora's shoulder, her body began to quake.

"I just feel so guilty, I knew that this could've happened but I'd never want him to sacrifice his life just to fix my mistake." Weiss sobbed as her lack of sleep began to overwhelm her emotions and she felt absolute terrible.

"Shhh it's alright Princess. Let's just call it a night, alright? You're obviously exhausted both physically and mentally, a little bit of rest won't hurt you." Aurora probed at her softly.

"B-but what if he wakes up? I need to be there." She pleaded with half baked resistance.

"It's fine, we'll all look after him while you take your beauty sleep. Pyrrha's pissed at us regardless so we can't do anything at the moment." Midnight remarked as she stared at Jaune's body.

It took for a while, but they could see the route that Weiss took behind her eyes. She knew that she needed rest, but she refused to do anything about it. But regardless if her mind wanted to or not, she just collapsed into Aurora's shoulder and fell silent.

The trio sighed before Aurora slung the Princess over her shoulder and headed towards her personal tent. The other two just watched them leave before directing their attention to the inane mumblings of a man who is on the precipice of death.

"Wonder how long it'll take for him to wake up…" Cerise asked no one in particular with a morose tone in her voice.

"He'll be fine, he's being looked after around the clock by the head doctor, so I wouldn't stress over it too much." Midnight comforted the smaller girl by drawing her into an embrace.

"I hate her. I fucking hate that bitch for what she made Jaune do. If it wasn't for her, Jaune would be fine." Cerise began with a scathing rant that made Midnight pale.

"W-who are you talking about Cherry?" Midnight asked cautiously.

"Our glorious leader Pyrrha of course!" She hissed with venom. "If it wasn't for her selfish thought process then Jaune could've been fine, he wouldn't have to blow himself up to save all of us!"

"She had her reasons just as much as any one of us. And her position is that more stressful because of who and what she has to look after. So don't go biting her just yet because I don't believe that she sent him willingly. More like she had no choice."

"BULLSHIT! She always has a choice!" She scowled before bolting off with the assistance of her Semblance, leaving a trail of petals in her wake.

Midnight sighed before sitting on the chair that Weiss once occupied. "You're becoming awfully popular for a young man. Cute though, must be interesting to have all of these women fawning over you." She smirked, confident that he couldn't hear her.

"Not really, I worry that I might step on a landmine." A dry breath came from the body as he opened his eyes tiredly, looking at her. There was a faint light in his eyes, showing that he hasn't thrown the towel in yet.

She was startled, her ears becoming taut as a bowstring before she visibly relaxed. "Good morning Handsome, how are you?" She asked softly as she stroked his forehead.

"I feel like absolute shit." He remarked gruffly, drawing a giggle out of her which caused him to smile.

"Well I'm willing to bet that blowing yourself up isn't exactly conducive to your health." She smirked as she sat next to him on the bed.

A dry chuckle came from his frame which set off a multitude of coughs. "I-if it wouldn't be too much of a problem, Midnight. Could you please get me some water?" He asked as he cleared his throat and focussed on his breathing.

"Of course." She bowed her head before heading off to a pitcher of water she saw. Coming back, she got him to lean forward and began to slowly trickle water into his mouth. He began to drink all too quickly, which set off another bout of coughs. "Slowly, slowly now otherwise you'll drown yourself."

He smiled grimly. "Wouldn't that be an anticlimactic ending." He conceded and drank much slower. His breathing became less dry and calmer as his throat and lips moistened with water. With a final sip he nodded for her to take it away, coughing one last time into his hand before sighing and falling back down onto his bed.

"T-thank you, for that." He expressed with sincerity as he rubbed his face, his movements slow and pained.

"Anything else I can do?" She asked as she tilted her head, framing her fair face with a curtain of black hair. All he did was smile and shook his head.

"Only that you stay with me, I'm awful lonely." He smirked and chuckled.

She thought for a moment before a smile came to her lips. "Well I guess I can ignore my duties for now and look after you, if I must." She spoke in faux exasperation which was not lost on the wounded soldier on the bed before her.

"Admit it, you love playing nurse." He cackled loudly and reduced himself to a bout of chuckles.

"Cheeky bastard." She muttered with a straight face, but the twitch of her lips belied the smile that was in her heart. She leant over and gave him a flick on the nose for his cheek.

"Hey now! Can't hurt the injured." He complained with a soft edge in his voice.

"Sorry, Doctor's orders. It's so you don't turn into a big softie while you're recovering." She smirked and reached down to pull on his cheek, to which brought a small blush to his cheeks.

"Oh fine." He responded before closing his eyes. "I hope if you don't mind if I recover some more?" He asked imploringly, opening a tired eye and looking up at her with a pleading look in his eyes.

She put a finger to her lips and gave the pretence of giving it a thought. Finally, she looked back down with a smirk before nodding. "Alright, go have your beauty sleep."

He chuckled before closing the remaining eye. "Compared to you? It's ugly sleep." He had already fallen asleep as he finished the sentence, not affording Midnight an opportunity to respond.

She had a light blush on her face before sitting back at the chair. "Cheeky bastard." She muttered again.

Aurora came through the tent flaps. "Sorry it took so long; Ice Queen would not get off me." She huffed in annoyance as she collapsed onto a chair next to Midnight.

"I bet you loved the idea of someone not letting go of you." She taunted playfully.

Aurora crossed her arms and glowered harmlessly. "No, what made you think that?"

"Oh nothing. Don't forget how well I know you." She smirked at the squirming blonde boxer.

She blushed somewhat before looking at Jaune. "Did he wake up at all?" She inquired as she studied her nails.

Midnight thought for a second before shaking her head. Whatever they said to each other was personal. "No, still sleeping like a log."


	6. The Rewards of Sacrifice

_AN: This'll be the last update for a while because I need to focus on Uni and other things that are going on. Thanks for staying with me for this far guys, you are amazing._

"Now demonstrate the flexibility in your left hand please." The Doctor ordered as he watched over Jaune.

He complied by touching his thumb to his fingertips before clenching it as hard as he could. "Feels a bit weak Doc." He commented with a worried expression on his face.

The Doctor nodded gravely. "I feared that. Apparently, the attack from your bodyguard duties and the explosive use of your Aura has permanently damaged the nerves in your left arm and hand. There are ways to strengthen your grip but it will never go back to what it was before this debacle."

He nodded solemnly as he looked at the veins and muscles on the back of his hand. "Permanent nerve damage, ain't that a bitch," He remarked with a dark expression before looking back up. "Am I allowed to leave, Doc?"

The Doctor looked over his file. "Yes, but I will decree that you are to be on very light duty. No more fighting for you until the end of the week. And you must rest more than usual, you still have not recovered from the explosion. So I would recommend that you tell Your Grace that you aren't to go and fight that young fellow who destroyed your shoulder."

Jaune chuckled drily. "Not like I had a choice in that matter… Maybe a small picnic in the country side would be good enough for me."

"I would recommend light activity, a picnic isn't a terrible idea." The Doctor agreed before heading off, leaving Jaune by himself.

Once the Doctor left, Jaune began to constantly clench his left fist. "God fucking damnit. Can't catch a break can I? Fuck no, always gotta go 100% or none at all." He growled in frustration before standing up and placing a white cotton shirt on before heading out.

After he left the tent, it wasn't long before he was stopped by a messenger. "Message for you sir!"

"At ease squire, relay the message." Jaune stopped and looked at the man expectantly.

"You are to report to Her Highness as soon as you are able." The squire saluted.

"I see… You may return to your post squire, thank you." He nodded the young man off before heading off to the Quartermaster.

The Quartermaster herself wasn't a woman of strong build, but of agility. It wasn't odd to see her flit from one stock take to the next with surprising speed. Her husband also assisted her with the heavy lifting that often came with the job.

They were currently conducting such a job before Jaune's approach twitched her large ears, causing her to turn around. Once she saw who it was she gave a warm smile that instantly filled Jaune with happiness. "My dear Jaune! It's been far too long since you've come over, Ghira and I thought you didn't like us anymore!" She chuckled before embracing the young man in a hug.

"Mother Belladonna, it has been far too long indeed." He wrapped his arms around her fully and enjoyed the contact. Mrs Belladonna was very much the Mother of the army, her personality and caring nature instantly made her popular amongst the soldiers.

They separated which left her placing a hand on her hip. "Sooo as much as I'd like to think this is a personal visit, you need something don't you?" She asked with a knowing smile gracing her lips.

He nodded sheepishly. "You know me too well Mrs Belladonna, but I promise you that I will come here for a true personal visit." He directed a smile at her.

She giggled before swatting him on the arm. "Such a charmer, now tell me. What do you need?"

"Ehhh may I please have a gambeson, leather cuirass, a pair of gauntlets, a hand-and-a-half sword and a parrying dagger to go with please?" He listed the items off the top of his head.

"What happened to your other gear?" She asked incredulously as her husband went to collect the request.

Jaune smiled ruefully before rubbing the back of his head. "Getting repairs."

She cocked her hip and folded her arms which immediately reminded him of Midnight. "I swear one of these days Jaune Arc, I will whip you into making sure you look after your equipment!" She scolded him intensely. "That stuff isn't cheap!"

He weathered the storm, nodding all the same before hanging his head in shame. "Sorry Mrs Belladonna, I will remember to look after them."

"You better, otherwise you will be forced to fight in the nude" She scowled half heartedly.

He blushed a deep red. "I think some of the women in this camp might like that actually."

"Awww you're so sweet when you're blushing." She reached over and grabbed him by the cheek and pulled on it.

"Mrs Belladonna please." He blushed harder and looked away embarrassingly.

"You're right. Ghira dear, do you have Jaune's stuff ready?" She inquired as she sauntered over to her husband.

"Nearly my love. I'm just trying to find a suitable longsword for him." Ghira responded as he tested multiple lengths and makes.

"I'm actually quite surprised you haven't asked for a pistol or a bow. Why is that?" She asked as she gazed at him.

"Can't really use such things anymore… Damaged nerves in my left arm and hand." He explained as he subconsciously rubbed his left arm. This however moved some of the material away from his shoulder and she could just see the beginnings of the scar.

"Strip that shirt off yourself and let me see what you've done." She huffed annoyingly, before pulling it off of him when he didn't comply.

"Oh you bloody idiot, always hurting yourself." She said with concern laced in her voice as she softly placed her hands on the area. He twinged in tenderness as her hands fell onto the red scar.

"Careful, it's a bit sore." He remarked softly as she began to lose herself in thought.

"And this strike cleaved through your armour?" She asked incredulously.

"All layers of armour and through the rest of my Aura… It kinda hurt." He chuckled without humour.

"Bravado will only get you so far Jaune, you should remember that... And High Commander sent you on that mission with this wound?" She asked, her ears slowly folding down and her irises becoming slits.

"She had no choice in the matter, I had to ride." He shrugged, which he regretted as his shoulder inflamed again.

"If you say so… But I disagree. Ghira babe, do you have the gear?" She asked as she looked back.

"Yes dear, got a fine sword for Jaune to use as well." He rumbled as he came over with the selected gear. He handed Jaune the sword handle first to which he gratefully took. He did a couple of practise swings with his right arm before nodding.

"This is a fine piece of work, thank you very much Ghira." He slid it back into its sheathe, before sliding his shirt back on and donning the gambeson and cuirass. "I won't need a helmet, maybe a cloak with a hood? If one is available, just a grey or black one is fine for me."

Ghira nodded before heading off again, leaving Jaune to belt the dagger and sword around his waist. He looked down and adjusted the cuirass again before nodding. "I actually look pretty good." He smiled in a rare bout of self confidence.

"Finally some self confidence coming out of you!" She chided him as she grabbed his cheeks again. "How many times have I told you to start being more confident!"

"Yeah well I try as hard as I can given the circumstances." He remarked with a bit of wounded pride before stretching his arms.

"Here you go young lad, a disguise fit for a king," Ghira said as he handed Jaune a thick hooded cloak. "This is some pretty good material too, keep you warm and cosy. Or whoever you'll be guarding." He smirked.

"Why is everyone so concerned about my relationships all of a sudden?" He asked with a bewildered look on his face.

"Well you've got a rather cute looking princess to be guarding, not to mention the Commanders are rather fond of you." She giggled and smirked at him.

"Making it sound like I'm the only eligible bachelor around here." He chuckled and gave her a hug.

"Well let's just say trustworthy bachelor. Take care of yourself ok?" She asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Yes Jaune, please look after yourself. My wife would cry tears of blood if her little Jauney boy were to be hurt again." He smiled playfully before drawing his wife into a loose embrace.

"Oh I will, but usually trouble finds me!" He gave them a small wave before swinging the cloak on himself.

* * *

"Your Grace, might I suggest a bit more of a regal look?" A servant asked as she passed over a coat.

"No thank you, I'd prefer to rid myself of dresses and gowns for a while. Plus if I was to go out, dressing in finery would make me stick out like a sore thumb. I would like to go out without being the target of some less than pleasing deplorables." Weiss responded as she tried on multiple clothes.

"Might I ask what look you are going for, Your Grace?"

"Just whatever I like, to be honest. I don't really have a set look in mind." She murmured absentmindedly.

"Would you like a cloak for warmth, Your Grace?"

"Please if you can get one, with a hood if it's not too much of a bother." Weiss asked apologetically.

"Not a problem at all Your Grace. I shall be back soon."

Weiss was left alone with her thoughts. "What would I do now? I mean I'm in the middle of a war that'll dictate on how Humanity will continue to live in this world. Everyone's surrounding me and I feel like I have no room to breathe…"

Her thoughts were interrupted by a hand rapping against the support pole of her tent. "Who is it?"

"Jaune Arc, Your Grace."

"Please come in…" She finished dressing herself and pushing her hair away.

"Your Grace?" Jaune questioned confusedly as he couldn't see her in the tent. "Where are you?"

"I'll be out in a bit alright? Please wait?" She responded as she straightened out her clothing.

"Of course." Jaune acquiesced as he sat down on a nearby stool.

"I trust that you are feeling well?" She asked as she made the finishing touches to her outfit.

"Well enough to return to light active duty. I will spend the remainder of my time as your body guard, as originally discussed between you and High Commander."

"Always so formal aren't you? You should loosen up every now and then."

"Why do you think I'm looking after you? To me, this is loosening up. All I have to do is look after a snooty princess, quite the epitome of an easy job."

She pouted despite Jaune not being able to see it. "I'm not as much of a snooty princess anymore. And I will have you know that I can easily go back to my old self just to make things difficult for you." She spoke haughtily.

"I do admit that you have subdued your snootier side, still an easy job," Jaune pushed as he sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Are you nearly done?"

"Patience, a woman of my standing must look her best."

"You're honestly living in a tent on a military base where horses shit where they stand… Not exactly the luxury estates of a castle." Jaune pointed out.

She scoffed. "And I'm to reduce myself to looking below my station?"

"No, but you could honestly hurry up."

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" She scoffed at him.

"Your body guard."

Well she couldn't argue with that and with an exasperated huff, she came out from the privacy screens. "Happy now?" She asked, hands on her hips.

He looked up and was honestly taken aback. "Wow." He rose an eyebrow at her.

Her current attire was different to the dresses that people are used to seeing her in. In place of her regal finery she wore a pair of tight fitting riding pants made of a material similar to leather. For her top she went with a loose white button up shirt with a stiff corset around her midsection. Over the shirt she wore a woollen jacket. Of course, strapped her to thigh was a nasty looking dagger.

"What?" She asked curiously as she looked down at herself.

"If you wanted to go incognito I think you nailed it. Also did you cut your hair?" He asked incredulously as he began to notice more details.

"Of course I did you big buffoon. I've wanted to do it for ages." She spoke as if it was an obvious thing to realise.

Instead of her off to the side ponytail, she had cut it shorter, so it bunched up around her collarbone and shoulder blades, making her look a bit more regal and approachable. Her eyes still bore an air of haughtiness about her.

"Well unfortunately we can't do anything about your hair colour, not that I'd imagine you'd change it regardless." Jaune waved his hand as he finished his sentence.

"Of course not, a Schnee's look is connected to the colour of our hair as well as our eyes. Don't be ridiculous to think I would change my hair colour just to make myself safer, it's what I have you for." She crossed her arms and looked down at him.

"Well I'm going to be running incognito as well. Which is why I have forgone the heavy plate for something a bit lighter. We will be wearing hooded cloaks as well during our outing." He stood up and walked towards her, stopping just short of being in her personal space.

"I have already asked a maid to get me a hooded cloak. Why are you so formal at the moment?" She asked him, a bit ticked off.

"I am tired, I am sore. I am hurting and I'm trying my hardest to not lose lucidity. So please, do not measure or attempt to test my patience for today. As I begin to stretch and move, I am sure that the pain will start to abate." He responded with a straight face and a hard look in his eyes.

"How bad is it?" She asked him as she gazed at the wounded shoulder.

"You do not have to see. All you have to know is that I am capable of being your body guard." Jaune retorted, slight annoyance dripping from his voice.

"Jaune Arc, I demand that you strip your upper layer of clothing so I may inspect whether or not you're physically fit to guard me." She drew herself up to her full height, not quite being as tall as him but easily dwarfing his presence in the room.

He gave her a final look before beginning to remove the cuirass and unbuttoning his shirt. With a final tug he removed both items and stood straight with his arms by his side.

To Jaune, it wasn't that horrible of a wound. But to Weiss, she saw a large scar that stretched from his shoulder all the way to his collarbone. The surrounding tissue was black and purple and the scar itself was scarlet.

A small look of horror captured her features as she absentmindedly reached out and placed her fingers on it. It was hot! Inflamed! But to Jaune, her cool fingers brought a modicum of relief as she gazed at the wound.

"Did they leave you anything to wrap it up in?" She whispered, the colour in her face drained from shock.

"My kit comes with a multitude of bandages and medicine to provide temporary pain relief." He answered as his brow began to loosen from her touch. It really was relaxing, having such a cool feeling touching around a hot spot. "But the awkward position doesn't lend itself well to bandaging."

She nodded silently as she soaked the sight in. She began to wonder what it would've been like if that attack connected with her, she surely would've been killed. She shook herself to the present and took a step back. "I am more inclined to have you resting in bed, but if you are that determined to accompany me, then I will accept your request."

At that moment, the maid returned with the cloak and got an eyeful of Jaune's physique. Scarlet began to spread across her face as she rushed forward and handed Weiss her cloak. "H-here you go, Y-your Grace. I-I unfortunately have s-some more work to d-do so I will leave you in capable h-hands." She rushed out of the tent before Weiss could say anything.

She rose an eyebrow at her servant as she left before throwing the cloak around herself. "Oh put your things back on you buffoon, what are you waiting for?" She huffed as she stared at him.

He shrugged before donning his upper layer again and swinging his cloak over himself. "Are you ready to leave?" He asked as he gave her a final look.

"Why yes I am." Her face broke out into a small grin.

* * *

The pair were riding along a somewhat busy supply road. It was nearing the end of the day so trading was slowed down to a crawl.

Despite the amount of people they've passed, no one recognised them. They rode silently for the majority of the trip, adding the restlessness that Weiss felt.

Finally, she broke the silence. "Where are we going?"

Jaune kept quiet for a while before giving an answer. "There is a nice cliffside overlooking a small part of the ocean that I would like to visit. We will also come across some small settlements and towns along the way."

"Are you sure that's safe?" She asked, concern laced in her voice. "What if someone recognises us?"

"That is why I'm here as well. There shouldn't be any trouble or problems that I can't deal with or overcome… Starting to sound like a worry wart." He flashed her a grin before returning his gaze to the front.

"I'm not worried… Just… Scared…" She mumbled while shrinking into herself.

He stopped the group by moving his horse in front of hers. He sighed while rubbing the back of his neck before gazing at her. "Look… I'm not going to lie or sugar coat things here. Yes, there are people that want to kill you because of your heritage, because of your lineage, and because of the power that you yourself represent. Your father's policies regarding to Faunus workers in his silver mines is a contention in our army, and that of the civilians. While I may defend you from those of physical harm, there are others that strive to bring you down. People will hate me for being your body guard, people will despise me for following orders. Because people do not bother to differentiate the crimes of the father and will supplant those onto his daughter."

He stayed silent for a while to drive the point home. "I will defend your life with my own, for there are things I can control. So please, I ask of you to at least unlock your worry and rest your safety with me. There are beautiful views in this world, and you can afford to bask in them."

He fell silent and waited for a moment, before clicking his tongue and moved his horse onward, Weiss following close behind. True to his word, she felt safe when she was around him. Taking his advice to heart, she lifted her head and began to view the vast green fields and rolling mountains. A small smile began to grace her face as the beauty of the scene began to envelope her senses.

"It truly is a beautiful sight… I've never thought about how the hills roll down with the greenery. The trees themselves providing a cornucopia of colour, all different shades of green." She spoke in awe as the smile grew.

"Remnant does have some beautiful scenery, I will admit that, especially when you go further north of Atlas." Jaune concurred as he kept a constant vigil of what was in front of him.

Another small caravan came up over a steep hill and the first of the carts began to pass them. Intermixed were commoners and some richer merchants alike. But what the pair didn't notice was a rather ostentatiously dressed man peering at them underneath his black cowboy hat, an Ace of Spades perched behind the ribbon that ran across the brim. He broke out a small smirk with a grunt of satisfaction as he waited until he drew next to Weiss. With a quick movement he closed the distance between them and grabbed her forearm in a firm but friendly grip. Weiss looked down in alarm and was about to shout before he placed a finger to his lips. "Your Grace, it is excellent to see you out and about," He had a smooth and charismatic voice that calmed her down despite the rather confrontational position they were in. "Do not worry Your Grace, you still have supporters aplenty that recognise your claim. We, recognise your birthright."

With that finally said, he handed her a card similar to the one on his hat, before letting her go and leaving, intermingling back into the caravan crowd without a trace. By this time, Jaune already gained a significant lead ahead of her and he soon felt the absence of her presence. Turning around her saw her looking at the card in her grasp. "You alright?" He called out to her.

"Y-yeah I'm fine… Just a bit tired is all." She made the excuse up on the spot as she flicked her reins to catch up to him.

"Where did you get that?" He asked as he eyed the playing card in her fingers, a tone of caution creeping into his voice.

"Someone in that caravan gave it to me… Said that there are people who recognise my birthright…. That could only mean… That little piece of shit!" She exclaimed with fervour as a noticeable red tinge of rage permeated her cheeks.

"Ummm, come again?" Jaune asked with concern.

She sighed explosively before pinching the bridge of her nose. "Unbelievable… He could only mean my little brother. Most likely ever since I've left the tower he's been working to subvert my claim to Father's company… Little shit!" She exclaimed again before slamming a fist into her thigh.

Jaune stayed silent throughout this outburst. Whatever was going on in her family he did not want anything to do with it. He rose an eyebrow and waited for her to calm down. With difficulty she slowed her breathing before looking back to him. "I apologise for my outburst, that was unbecoming of me. Please… Let us continue on our path." She flicked the reins and surged forward, easily overtaking him.

He was left staring at her back, a slight twitch in the corner of his mouth belied his current feelings. With a flick, he sent his horse following her.

* * *

"I never knew such a place existed nearby… This is beautiful." Weiss breathed out as her eyes danced between each different piece of scenery.

"I discovered it when I was doing a solo reconnaissance mission. I stopped here, when I was returning, for some well needed rest and decided to mark it on my map for future visits." Jaune grunted as he dismounted and unrolled his saddlebag, multitude of tools and two tightly packed tents spilled onto the ground in a neat fashion. With a heave he grabbed both of the tents and hurled them onto his shoulder before walking to a suitable patch of ground to set up.

Weiss watched him with interest, shifting in her saddle to relieve the mild cramping in her legs. Her mouth twisted into a frown as she noticed the two tents. "Why do we have two?"

His head shifted up and he gazed at her. "What?" A look of confusion spread across his face.

"Why do we have two tents?" She asked again, a slight pang of annoyance twinging her stomach.

"Because I'm not going to force you to sleep in the same tent as me." He spoke with finality as he began to pitch the first tent.

"Why go through all the pretence of protecting me and then put me in a separate tent!? We don't know whose followed us or if we'll be attacked at night. How are you going to tell if someone creeps into my tent to murder me?" She spoke with authority but Jaune could hear her voice tremble slightly at the prospect.

He just stared at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face. He couldn't have heard her right. "You're telling me that you want to sleep in the same tent as me?" He scarcely believed what she was insinuating.

"Yes! You bloody idiot!" She crossed her arms and stared down at him. Regardless of what the situation was and what she was insinuating, she would not feel safe unless she could feel Jaune next to her. It wasn't until her heart throbbed at the prospect that a red tinge began to colour her cheeks.

He sighed explosively before rubbing his face, turning back to give her a hard look. "Fine… But I do not want to hear any complaining or anything stupid." He had dark rings under his eyes and his expression was haggard as well as his face being pale.

"I will be quiet." She whispered before packing up the second tent and slinging it over Jaune's horse.

They stayed silent for a while until he spoke again. "I will create the fire… You… You can just make sure the horses are ok, don't bother tying mine up. She won't go too far." He murmured as he took out a small hatchet from his toolkit and went further into the forest, leaving Weiss on her own.

She walked over to Jaune's horse and began to stroke her nose. Low rumblings of pleasure erupted from her chest as she pushed against her hand. Weiss let go a wistful sigh before increasing the intensity of the strokes. "Do you know why he's being like this? It's like he's so cold right now and it's honestly making me concerned."

The horse, of course, didn't offer any answer other than a rumble and shaking her mane. Honestly, Weiss didn't know what to expect, she just felt so lost in the world that she was in. With a few more scratches on the horse's nose, she finally tore herself away and got to work with setting up their bedrolls.

The tent itself was spacious enough to fit two people comfortably, but it was the proximity that made Weiss' heart quicken. With a shake she cleared her thoughts. "Why do I care so much about that? I'm like a child fantasising, it will not do for someone of my station." She muttered as she attempted to separate her feelings from her current situation.

Jaune arrived shortly after with some light logs and kindling, immediately beginning to make a fire. Weiss watched him with ill-veiled interest as she never created a fire without Dust before. Jaune noticed her interest and allowed a small smile to grace his features. "I can teach you if you want."

She blushed deeply before a smile came to her own lips. "Please? I'd like to learn how to look after myself." She crouched down next to him.

He spent the next half hour teaching her how to properly create and maintain a fire. It was surprisingly simple, but it had quite a few nuances to it. But regardless, Weiss took to the challenge quite well. It wasn't long before they had a roaring fire in front of them, Weiss taking comfort in its raging flame.

"Not too bad Princess, definitely took a lot less time than I thought it would." Jaune remarked as he began chopping smaller pieces of wood for fuel.

"I'm not a complete dullard, I am quite intelligent if I say so myself. I was homeschooled before I got sent to the tower you know." Weiss spoke indignantly, tossing her hair to the side.

"Wait, so they trained you in things other than sewing and cooking?" He smirked evilly as he whittled a piece of wood.

A small blush appeared on her cheeks as she gave him a slap across the face. "That was not needed." She spoke in a whisper as she stared down at him.

He looked at her frankly before shrugging his shoulders and nodding his head. "You're right, that was unnecessary. I apologise."

Now Weiss was left with an awkward silence with which she had no idea what to do with. Dropping next to him with a sigh, she leant against him and let her head fall on his shoulder. "I'm sorry for striking you…"

A dry chuckle emanated from his throat. "No… I apologise for being crude." He let her lean against him, and he had to admit it wasn't all that bad. Her smell wafted into his nostrils and the softness of her form lent itself to a flurry of fantasies that were ill fitting for someone so honourable and noble.

They fell into a more comfortable silence, allowing a sense of warmth to spread in Weiss' chest. Jaune looked over at her studiously before going back to whittling. "Are you tired, Princess?"

She gave a slight nod. "Mhm… But I can't sleep, not tired enough… And please, call me Weiss."

Jaune thought for a moment before finally nodding. "But of course, Weiss… And I have an idea that'll get you tired in no time. Want to hear it?"

Her interest was immediately piqued, causing her to look over at him with a raised eyebrow. "Alright, I'll bite. What do you have in mind?" She tilted her head to the side with a look of curiosity.

He got up on his feet and drew his longsword. "I'm gonna teach you how to fight against a swordsman… Your fight against Adam was all too telling about how much you depend on Dust to enhance your lack of skill."

Her face fell into a frown as she stood up, her pride wounded. "I can look after myself thank you very much!" She shouted indignantly.

He ignored her and flicked open the case that housed her rapier and grabbed it, chucking it over to her. She caught it deftly, though ending up somewhat following it to the ground. But she straightened back up. "There is no way I can talk you out of this?" She pleaded.

He shook his head and began to practise a basic technique. "Nope, not at all. I will teach you how to defend yourself against a swordsman and it'll help you tire out enough to sleep," He continued onwards with the technique, ending it with a lunge before drawing himself back again. "Anyways, I need to practise my own swordsmanship as well." He finished this sentence while walking to a small field to their left, allowing her to stay closer to the fire.

Weiss scowled until she realised there was no way out of this. With a deep breath she walked to her side of the field. With a practised finger, she drew it over the edge to test its sharpness, drawing a slightly cut finger with a small smile of contentment.

Jaune twirled the blade with an air of concentration. Once she had marked herself ready he drew himself up straight and got into a defensive stance. He pulled the sword close to his body, tip facing her chest.

"How are you going to teach me to defend myself?" Weiss asked as she cut the air with her rapier.

"I will throw some basic techniques and attacks at you and see how well you fare. If there are things I can improve I will point them out. After that then I will start to become more and more technical… I should start off automatically saying that since you are wielding a rapier, you should look at deflecting than straight on blocking, as the weight of my sword and other swords will surely overpower yours."

Weiss nodded before bringing her rapier up and nodding again for him to start. He advanced slowly before drawing his sword behind him for an obvious overhead slash. She sidestepped it and lunged forward, rapier just stopped short of puncturing his cuirass.

They disengaged and Jaune went with a quicker lunge and following it up with a basic horizontal slash. Weiss deflecting the lunge by breaking it off course with her rapier before cartwheeling backwards to display her flexibility.

He nodded, a look of determination engraved on his face as he closed the distance between them quickly, and went for a diagonal slash before looping around with a lunge, following the action with a hard elbow slam to her chest.

She could only dodge the slash before attempting to divert the lunge, not expecting the elbow which sent her skidding back a few paces, winded. "That hurt." She pouted.

He didn't respond and followed up with a flurry of slashes and mixing it up with lunges. She blocked the slashes on instinct and found herself well behind the pace which he set, leaving her reactions lagging behind and inevitably ended up with another punch to her face.

She coughed a bit and spat out a bit of blood. "Can you take the gloves off please?" She implored.

He acquiesced and threw the gauntlets onto the log behind him. "Now, you start first."

She nodded and strutted forward, delivering a few stabs and lunges at him. He blocked them fairly well, bringing himself closer to limit her effectiveness. "It is unfortunate that your rapier does not have a definitive edge, rather than a false one. For your rapier limits you to thrusting techniques… But I can work with that. Also," He paused before grabbing her wrist and pointed to the pommel. "Never ever be afraid to use this. In close quarters this is your deadliest extension of your body and you can seriously disorientate someone from a blow with this. Case in point." He grabbed the rapier before she could react and shoved the pommel into her stomach, driving her back.

She coughed and grimaced in pain. "Fine… Point taken." She begrudgingly took her rapier back and drew herself into a defensive stance again.

Jaune attacked again, going for a short stroke against her defences before sending a backhand at her. She dodged both attacks, arching her back gracefully as she cartwheeled, kicking him in the face as she did so.

By now, both participants were breathing hard as they disengaged. Jaune was all too painfully reminded what it was like when he fought Adam, the memories running nonstop through his already beleaguered mind. With a sigh, he dug the point of his sword into the ground. "I've… Had enough for tonight. I'm too tired to continue."

Weiss nodded with his statement. "I'm tired as well, tired enough to sleep. Shall we call it a night?"

Jaune nodded before digging out his sword and sheathing it, turning on his heel and headed off to the tent. He stopped before the entrance and looked over at her. "I'll let you get into the tent to switch into whichever sleeping clothes you may have, and I'll do the same outside."

"If that's how you want to do it, then sure." She shrugged before heading into the tent, tying the flaps in place for privacy.

While Weiss was preoccupied he whistled for his horse, who came trotting over enthusiastically, giving him a headbutt in affection. A smile came to his lips as he stroked the nose of his horse. "We're gonna head off to sleep alright? Mind keeping the camp safe while I'm out?"

The horse blew a raspberry before shaking its mane, giving Jaune a knowing look.

"Hey! It's not like that, none of that is going to happen you dirty minded animal… Just wake me up if there's something amiss. Alright?" He reached over and rubbed her side.

She rolled her eyes before nodding her head exaggeratingly. Jaune chuckled before scratching her nose once more. "Thanks, see you in the morning, right?" Another nod.

Jaune left with that and began to disrobe, leaving on a light cotton shirt and pants. He grabbed his sheathed sword and dagger before heading to the tent. "Oy, you decent in there?"

"As decent as I can be given what I brought." A small voice came from inside.

Steeling himself for whatever could be inside, Jaune took a peek and was not surprised. She was just wearing a similar attire to him.

"What? You'd thought I'd wear a sheer negligee? Pfft as if, those things are uncomfortable as all hell," She stood on her feet and crossed her arms at him. "What's with the swords?"

"What? You'd thought I'd sleep in a foreign area without a means to immediately protect myself? What are you, crazy?" Jaune fired back.

Weiss conceded to the point and collapsed onto her bedroll, bruises already appearing in parts where the shirt didn't cover her torso. Jaune sat on his own bedroll and began to calm down, running a whetstone lightly over his weapons.

"What are you doing?" Weiss asked irritably.

"Just doing a small spot of maintenance so the next proper one I do isn't as large… Gotta look after the edge of your blade when you've just been in a battle or a fight. Well, you might not cause you don't have a real edge to speak of. But trust me, you'd be glad when you've maintained your weapon." He fell silent as the light rasping of the whetstone on the blade filled the air.

"How will we know if anyone tries to sneak up on us?" Weiss asked with curiosity.

Jaune noticed the lack of fear in her voice and gave her a small smile. "Oh, she will warn me if there is anyone coming around that she can sense. She is incredibly smart for a horse."

"What makes her so special?" She inquired, sitting up and drawing her knees to her chest.

"Well… Remember when we went to Atlas City? I told you she was specially trained from birth? Well her training also includes sentry duty so if need be, she can take my place in the event that I cannot do it."

They fell into comfortable silence as Jaune finished up and slid the sword back into their sheathes, placing them down on the floor and looking at her. "Ready to sleep?" His eyelids began to droop as he said this.

She let out an exaggerated yawn before nodding, sliding down onto her bedroll and getting herself comfortable. Jaune stretched a bit and laid down onto his own bedroll.

Jaune found it difficult to sleep, being in a foreign area and sleeping in a foreign bedroll. But he waited until he heard the deep breathing of sleep coming from Weiss before he closed his eyes, nerves still frayed but a sense of calm enveloping himself.


	7. A Pleasant Night Interrupted

It was a low and drawn out noise that woke him up. He shifted his eyes open slightly and saw a glimmer of steel penetrate the tent and tear it open, flooding the interior with moonlight. Thankfully, it allowed Jaune to catch a glimpse of the face of their intruder. A pockmarked woman with an unfortunate and permanent sneer on her face, her pointed teeth glistening from what he would consider as saliva.

His heart began to beat rapidly, an intruder was about to enter the tent and god knows what to him and Weiss. He had to act quickly, just as he trained. His training touched on this subject, an intruder in your sleeping area.

He could not show the enemy that he was awake, even a slight opening of the eyes could tip them off that something was wrong. It was fortunate that their intruder wasn't experienced enough to notice his eyes slightly opening. He had to keep his face neutral and his breathing regular, to which he succeeded in. He had a knife in his sleeping shirt, hidden underneath a fold. All he had to do was to do two actions together: He had to immobilise or blind the intruder in one way or another, while simultaneously slipping out the knife for combat.

He dared not to wake Weiss, there was no way she could've been trained to deal with such a situation. 'Goddamnit, up to me to save her again, any more of these and people will start to believe it's a male fantasy where the princess is always the damsel in distress.'

'On three… One, two, three.' Before he even counted to three in his head he was already out and ready to duel. He shoved his hand into the intruder's face, aiming to poke out the eyes. The squishy resistance his fingers met told him that it was a success, now to withdraw the knife. His hand whipped around and withdrew the… wait… where was the knife?

He looked at over where Weiss was and saw his knife sitting with Myrtenaster. 'Oh thanks a lot Weiss, now we are both going to die.' He gave a savage kick to the intruder, who was already howling from the pain of her eyes being poked at. Already Weiss stirred from the noise which made Jaune curse as he had to lean over her body to grab the knife.

The presence of a body over her and the squealing from a person in pain made her immediately wake up. A body over her and the screaming all ran through her mind as she instinctively began to beat on the body on top of her. "Get off me you lout!"

"I'm trying to grab my knife you bitch!" He yelled at her as he attempted to ignore the beatings and yoinked the knife out of its place, rolling forward and out of the tent. He withdrew the knife, steel shining in the moonlight.

He felt movement behind him and he sidestepped, dodging a flimsy thrust that was pointed towards his kidney. He whipped around and saw three figures in front of him. "Three on one."

"Four." A voice above him said as they leapt from the tree onto him, forcing Jaune to roll again to the side and blocking an overhead strike that was pre-emptively sent his way.

Jaune stumbled to a stance and scanned his opponents. "Alright, four against one. Not bad odds, can't say I've had much worse but here we are."

"Fool! Why did you alert him to your presence!" The pockmarked woman hissed at the assailant who leapt from the tree. They were silent as they kept a feeble guard up and breathed out nervously.

"I'd ask who sent you, but that'd be clichéd as all hell." Jaune commented, his heart still pounding as he studied his opponents. Clearly they weren't trained as well as he, as they kept nervously shuffling and eyeing him out of concern rather than skill. But he was disadvantage when it came to weaponry. They were all at least equipped with a short sword, in the woman's case being a long curved blade. He was clearly outnumbered and underpowered for this challenge. "Weiss, do you mind hurrying up to help?"

"No, that's for you to do." A haughty voice came from the tent that sounded eerily like Weiss, but it seemed off.

"What, you're not gonna help me?" He pleaded to the tent behind him as he kept an eye on his opponents.

Silence came from the tent, which set off some alarm bells for him. By now, the talk should've been a bit more candid or a more physical response should've happened. But the tent was silent except for the shuffling of fabric.

"I see now, you're here to kidnap her?" He announced as the puzzle clicked in his head. It was all too simple, but it was quite effectively played out.

"Very smart. Yeah we're here to do that. Her father has put a rather handsome bounty on her head, and yours." The woman from before snarked as she got ready. From her posture Jaune could tell that she was slightly more skilled than her subordinates, but not by much. If it was all a one on one then he'd win easily, maybe a one on two with his current condition. But with his arm the way it is and his body not fully recovered from the previous battle, there'd only be one way this would all end. If only there was a way he could grab a better weapon.

 _In the tent_

Weiss was battling a rather powerfully built woman who reeked of perfume, and not the good kind either. She was in an experienced head lock, her airways being cut off and her brain starving for oxygen. She kicked and flailed, attempting to get the woman off of her as she began to lose consciousness. During her flailing, she knocked over her satchel, which held the card she was given by that mysterious gentleman. With a flourish of smoke, a card whistled through the fabric of the tent and collided into her assailant's skull. With a grunt, the woman released her pressure for a brief second which allowed Weiss to heave a breath and flexed her abs to curl herself inward, sending a savage kick to the forehead of her intruder and allowing to get free and roll out of the tent.

"I was wondering when you were going to call me. I was worried you forgot." That suave accent came from the same ostentatiously dressed man from before. A smirk graced his lips, the only feature of his face showing underneath the shadow of his hat.

Jaune looked at him warily, which provoked a bark of laughter from the mysterious Gentleman. "Do not worry young lad, I am neither friend nor foe. I am simply a servant of Your Grace." He bowed deeply before straightening back up.

The pockmarked woman sneered in defiance. "God damnit, the report only said the body guard. Not this tool!" She growled and gave a threatening glance to the one who Jaune presumed gave her the report.

"There was only two! I don't know where this guy came from!" He squealed in defiance.

"Don't worry about where I came from, but what I am about to do to you. You've threatened Your Grace, and that must not go unpunished." He stood up straight and another card flicked into his hand.

The group stepped back. "What are you doing you idiots!? They are just playing cards! Just swarm him!" The woman ordered at her frightened companions.

One of the braver men nodded with some confidence. "Come on men, let's get him!" He took a step forward.

It all happened in a blur, the Man barely moved before a card flew towards the goon at incredible speed and buried itself into his oesophagus, the tip of the card winking in the moonlight. A collective gasp emanated from the group as they all took a step back again.

"I'm game for a challenge. But careful that I don't cut your deck in half, just be sure you have a good hand before you try to deal with me." From anyone else it would sound corny, but when he just made a card slice someone's throat open with nary but a mere flick, it was a serious threat.

The assailants all shuffled back, even the sneering woman. The cloaked Man smirked again as another card flicked in between his fingers, having the dexterity to manoeuvre it between his fingers.

The area became deathly silent, except the wind which picked at the branches and made the Gentleman's cloak float off the ground. The atmosphere was tense, tense enough to be cut with a knife as the three groups came to a standstill.

"I think that if you run now, you'll see the next day…" Jaune commented as he drooped his dagger a bit.

She sneered at him. "Let's go, there is always another time to do it." She announced before they turned around and disappeared into the darkness.

Jaune groaned and dropped to the ground, the Gentleman gliding over and checking him over. "Previous wound… exhaustion. You will be fine if you take it steady." He said in a low tone.

"Y-yeah… Just need to take it easy, that eye jab and roll took it out of me." He heaved softly to gain some air into his lungs. "Where's Weiss?"

"Your Grace? She is fine. I think she's unconscious from the woman attempting to strangle her, oh yeah that reminds me. I've got bodies to dispose of." He said in a light tone that belied his dangerous demeanour.

Jaune nodded slightly before resting on his backside and attempting to get his heart rate under control. "Who were they?" He inquired as he clenched his damaged fist.

"They are a band of lowlanders that were hired by someone to kidnap your Highness, now for what reason I have no idea but that is irrelevant at this point in time. The main thing is that Your Grace is safe… Are you still able to protect her?" He commented with a dry and serious tone in his voice.

"Of course I can… there was just an unfortunate problem in how long it took for me to get into action… It won't happen again." Jaune said firmly. He didn't even want to think about what would his reaction would be if he said otherwise.

The Man made a noise as if in thought as he disposed of the bodies, before checking in the tent. "Nothing else here." He commented before exiting the tent. "You might have to use that other tent you have, you seem to have a tear in that one."

"Yeah… Don't I know it." Jaune commented drily as he rubbed his sore shoulder.

"I will now take my leave, if you need my help again, don't hesitate to tap the card. With some force I'd imagine. Your Grace isn't alone with her support, and there are plenty others than me. Well Jaune, good night." He tipped his hat towards him before stalking off into the night, disappearing as if magic was casted.

Jaune growled before crawling back into the tent and collapsing on his bed, ignoring the large tear in the tent and just wanting to sleep.

 _A few hours and toss and turns later_

A loud caw split the sky of sleep in his mind, forcing open the blinding sunlight that crept through his consciousness. With a low sigh, he opened his eyes regretfully, fully waking his mind. His nostrils filled with the sweet sent of blueberries, his ears pricking at the sound of very light breathing.

He took a deep breath and arranged himself to sit up, peering at the tear in the tent wall. 'Great… almost forget that last night happened.' He grumbled as he took stock of his surroundings.

It was early morning as the sun only just began to creepy from the horizon, the tear in the wall was just low enough for the first rays of light to streak into his eyelids. 'Not only did she want to kill me, she wanted me to not have a great night sleep. What a bitch.'

His shuffling and movement woke up the other occupant of the tent, much to his chagrin. With a stretch that nearly broke his nose, Weiss rose like a zombie from her bedding and yawned loudly before rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Good morning Jaune." She murmured as she stretched again, arching her back.

"Morning." He grumbled as he looked at her. Upon inspection, he could see no wounds or bruises on her face or neck. A feeling of relief flooded his system as he saw that she wasn't harmed from last night.

"What happened last night?" She murmured through her sleep deprivation, collapsing her lower body as the energy it requires has yet to come.

"Oh… Nothing in particular…" Jaune assured her as he got up to pack their things.

"What's with the tear in the wall?" 

He stopped for a moment to think of something. "A bear."

"Bear?! Bears live in this area!?" She exclaimed with a look of muted fear in her eyes.

"They do… But they are quite friendly. The one last night was just curious as to what was in here and after a few pets and rubs, they went on their way."

"I didn't realise that bears can be that friendly." Weiss murmured in wonder.

"Just don't go anywhere near their cubs and they'll won't hurt you whatsoever. Kinda like a tarantula; just don't annoy it and you'll be fine." He concluded as he continued with packing their gear.

"I don't like spiders…" Weiss said to him.

"Lucky there aren't giant spiders otherwise I don't think you'd be able to sleep at night." Jaune barked with laughter as he found the look on her face priceless.

Weiss responded with multiple half hearted slaps on his body. "That's not very funny! I am deathly afraid of spiders!" She huffed indignantly.

"I thought it was pretty funny." He remarked as he slung their gear on their horses. "Now come on, gotta continue this trek."

She swung herself onto her own horse and clucked her tongue, urging it to trot over to Jaune. "Wait… How come your horse didn't make a noise when the bear came along? I thought she was specially trained."

"Yeah, how come you didn't make a noise when the bear came along?" Jaune hazed his horse slightly with a somewhat serious glance. He was rewarded with a typical horse neigh and a shake of her mane before rolling her eyes. "She says that it was downwind, she couldn't smell it."

"Must be pretty blind." Weiss remarked with a haughty attitude. That rewarded her with a loud expulsion of flatulence in her direction from Jaune's horse. "D-did she just fart at me?"

He looked over at her curiously. "Hmm? Oh no, sometimes she has bad gas."

His horse nodded emphatically as Weiss glowered at her. "Bad gas, yeah right."


	8. Brink of Death, Thread of Life

It was at least another day of travel, but they did inevitably end up at their destination, a broad cliff overlooking the sea, one of the edges of the continent. The wind was mixed between savage and a slight breeze, the trees bending and swaying softly under its influence.

The smell of sea salt was but a light aroma in the air, not too offensive to the nose, the view stretched to the beautiful expanse of sapphire blue water. Waves crashed against the cliff face, within a few thousand years this cliff will no longer exist, such is the course of nature.

It was this view that assaulted Weiss' senses as they rode over the final hill, the sea air slightly picking up her hair as she sat in her saddle, her breath taken away from what she saw.

"I can probably guess that you like the view?" Jaune's rhetorical question could be heard, however she nodded regardless.

"It is a truly beautiful piece of landscape… How did you find it?" She whispered in awe.

"Was out on a scouting mission and noticed the smell of sea salt, so I followed it and this is what I found, good catch ain't it?" He answered as he swung down from his horse and unravelled the camping gear, dropping it to the ground and looking up at the sky. "Got a bit of daylight left. There isn't much to do here except just look around to be honest."

Weiss nodded absentmindedly. "I don't mind… I don't mind at all." She murmured as she kept staring out at the sea. "Does it ever end?"

"Mmm on a good day you can see some islands if you look hard enough." Jaune commented as he took out an axe and a large knife. "I'm gonna go look for some firewood, mind staying here until I come back? If she makes a noise, consider hiding." He pointed to his horse to make the point as he left for his task, leaving Weiss alone.

The sound of crashing waves bought a calm serene beauty to her, looking around and taking a deep breath of the salty sea air. "This is wonderful… You'd never see this out in the castle." She sighed wistfully as she dismounted from her horse.

"Wonder what I should do." She thought as she unpacked her items, the case housing Myrtenaster coming to mind. "Maybe I should do some practise." She concluded as she withdrew the blade from its case.

"So… How did he do it again?" She held it out and did a repertoire of slashes and stabs. "Drat… forgot to pack Dust, how abnormal of me." She grumbled as she went back to her routine, dancing around with jabs and stabs, swinging the rapier around gracefully as if a dancer.

Jaune had already came back from gathering firewood, and he found humour in watching her practise, his mind flipping between admiring her grace with which she danced and wincing at whenever she poorly executed a move. "I mean, it's pretty and all but it's kinda making me wince." He commented to himself.

By now she had already worked up a sweat, breathing harshly as she slowed down to a stop, her chest heaving with the physicality of the exercise. "I see that you were enjoying yourself." Jaune commented aloud, causing her to jump.

"Shit! Don't do that to me!" She levelled her rapier at him threateningly.

"I'm sorry, it was just an interesting sight watching you practise."

"H-how long where you there for?" She asked, nervous and embarrassed.

"Hmmm a few minutes, less than 10 I'd say." He admitted with a grin on his face.

Her face went slightly red, "W-w-why didn't you say anything before!?"

"Well I was just enjoying the view while simultaneously critiquing you as well." He smirked at her.

"Y-you brute! Watching me like a peeping tom." She scowled and looked at him.

He had picked up the firewood and carried it over, stacking into a small fire and sighed. "Gonna have to keep this alive for the night, we're a bit away from civilisations so animals are more likely to come and snoop around." He commented.

"Animals? What animals?" Weiss bit her lip in worry.

"Bears, wolves." He said absentmindedly.

"O-oh boy." She went white for a bit.

"Don't like bears do you?" He looked around warily and kept a hand on his dagger, he felt a pair of eyes on them but couldn't get the feeling of whether or not they were hostile.

"Not particularly."

"Well don't worry, there will probably be one snooping around tonight, I'll introduce you to it."

"P-please don't." She shook in fear.

Jaune smirked as he cooked their dinner on the roaring fire that he developed during his conversations with her. "I like the smell of wood fire."

"It does have a genuinely nice tinge to it." She admitted and sat beside him, looking with bright blue eyes.

They fell silent for a bit until they heard a rustle in a few bushes nearby. Weiss got up with a hand on her rapier as Jaune smiled a bit as he tended the fire. His horse didn't make a noise; thus he knew it was safe, that coupled with being downwind it was another piece of security.

The form in the bushes was quite large, and heavy as well. The branches in the nearby tree shook with each step it took as Weiss kept looking at it, her knees shaking. "J-Jaune…"

He rolled his eyes and stood up, putting a hand on her sword hand. "Calm down Weiss… It's not gonna hurt you." He said as the large form came into the firelight, a large brown bear.

"J-Jaune! It's a bear!" Weiss whined in fear.

"It's fine… It's not aggressive, it's merely curious. Not many people come here." He told her as he stepped forward slowly and softly, hands up and palms facing forward.

The bear itself sniffed the air and looked at him with its beady eyes, judging him. It slowly moved forward until it came within arm's reach. It sniffed him again and hummed as it decided he wasn't a threat. It lumbered closer as Jaune knelt down and butted its head into him. Jaune smiled all the while and ruffled its fur and scratched its neck, the bear making small noises of contentment as he did so.

Meanwhile Weiss stood there, glued to the floor as she stared at the large animal in fear. Jaune reached out and grabbed her arm and slowly pulled her forward. "He's fine."

She timidly bought her hand forward, sniffing her dainty hand before vocalising. She moved forward a bit and her hand was engulfed by the fluffy nature of its fur. "It's so soft." She whispered as her hand explored the neck and face of the animal. It's soft and wet nose tickling her as it butted into her hand.

Meanwhile, Jaune grabbed a dried piece of steak he was about to throw onto the hot rocks of the fire and handed it to Weiss, nodding towards the bear. She nodded her head, biting her lips. She rubbed its ears and bought the meat to its nose. Smelling something delicious, it opened its previously closed eyes and sniffed it again, licking it to get a taste before delicately biting a bit and taking it out of her hands, munching on it.

Weiss smiled with tears in her eyes, finding something beautiful in the bear before her. Was it the smooth fur? It's kind behaviour? It's curious nature? She didn't know, but she now knew that she loved this animal. "I… I kinda wanna keep him."

He chuckled and sighed. "I don't think Pyrrha would be very happy with me bringing back a wild bear." He pointed out as he stroked the fur of the animal.

"But he's so cute! A bit smelly but he's so cute, look at his wittle button nose." She booped it and hugged the big animal as it munched on the meat. It vocalised again and hummed, looking up at Jaune.

"Sorry buddy, I don't have much left to give." He said apologetically as he spread his hands to show the bear he had none left.

"Oh come now Jaune! You can hunt, right? Just give him a little more, please?" She begged as she thoroughly enjoyed herself with the animal.

"I suppose I could give him a bit more food." He relented before reaching into his pack and bringing out another slice of dried beef. This time the bear's eyes lit up as its nose quivered in excitement and curiosity. It smelt good whatever it was. A tentative lick and a nom later, the bear was munching on that strip of beef.

"Wonder where he came from." Jaune pondered as he stroked the animal. He felt uneasy again, despite knowing the presence of the bear. He felt as if there was another set of eyes gazing upon him. "Weiss… Act normal, keep your attention on the bear." He murmured.

To her credit, she did as he said and kept her attention focussed on the bear. "What is it?" She asked, her voice quiet but stern.

"I feel someone looking at us, not sure where but if I had to hazard a guess, it's from that tree across from us." He cast his eyes to the aforementioned tree, keeping his body seemingly focussed on the bear in front of him.

The wind had shifted momentarily, causing disorientation amongst the horses as they felt his unease. They neighed and hoofed the ground in anxiety. Jaune fancied he saw a waft of silver hair flutter in the branches.

"Silver hair… probably. Sound familiar?" He asked Weiss as he scanned the environment again, fearful of focussing too much on the silver hair and be lured into a trap.

"Silver hair… I mean… Silver hair is not uncommon, the shade of mine isn't exactly unique… If someone is out here with us and they have silver hair, I can hazard a guess at who it is… Jaune, treat me with respect right this very moment, bow before me!" She hissed seriously, her tone and gaze brook no argument.

He felt the hairs on his neck stand on end and knelt before her, bowing his head. "Who is it?" He asked desperately, his hand itching to go towards the dagger belted onto his waist. "Who could it be?"

"Winter." She whispered almost fearfully.

Immediately, he felt a breath of freezing air brush against the back of his neck. He froze instantly and kept his breath steady, the cold air becoming a solid feeling of steel against the nape of his neck.

"I'm impressed you've held your composure so well." A haughty yet powerful voice emanated behind him, chilling him to his core as he kept still. "I'm quite surprised you were able to allude me for so long, I didn't expect you to change so much." She seemed to direct that last bit to Weiss, who shook her head.

"I'm no longer controlled by Father, Winter. I suggest you begin to learn the same." She defiantly spoke against her sister, but her lower lip still quivered. Whoever her sister was, she was a person that Weiss feared greatly.

"Don't speak such foolishness Weiss, you will be safe in the grasp of Father, not gallivanting around the countryside with this oaf of a man. Come back home with me Weiss, and all will be forgiven."

"No… I refuse Winter. I do not want to go back to Father and for you to even suggest such a thing proves that you are too far gone in his influence to even think about yourself. Can't you see he's using you? You're a loyal dog to him, always at his beck and call to always please him." She shot back, her fury reaching her eyes.

"Uhh Weiss, I love the passion, great speech and all. But can you please argue with your sister in a situation where I'm not about to be skewered?" Jaune asked, trying to defuse the tense situation but failing miserably.

"A pity… I was expecting a bit more of a rebellion from you." Winter condescendingly insulted him.

"I've been told I'm very brave, but not very stupid." He said back, biting his lip at his candour.

Winter rose an eyebrow at his frankness. "The jury is still very much out on the latter… But I suppose I will be cooperative and give you a chance. Are you going to release my sister, so that she can come home and live a safe life?" She asked in a way as if she expected no other but an affirmative answer.

Jaune looked up at Weiss in the eyes, looking into hers and saw a begging there. He felt conflicted, right now he was in a tense situation where Weiss obviously didn't want to go home, but he didn't feel confident enough that he could go toe to toe with Winter in order to fight for her choice.

Meanwhile the bear had looked up at Winter lazily and vocalised again, the noise distracting Winter for the briefest second. That's when he struck.

He swung his mailed fist back and heard a loud smack, diving to the side and scooping up his longsword and held it in a practised guard. A counter attack was nearly immediate as a silvery sabre descended and crashed against his blade, the strength shocking him as he felt fierce resistance against his shove.

Winter stood in front of him, bespoke in her tight grey pants and boots, mixed with a blouse and a vest. Behind her, he saw a large white and grey cloak that she had seemingly discarded.

He had to admit, she was gorgeous, beautiful even. She was very much like Weiss but matured and having a confident air to her that didn't seem faked in the slightest. He felt a cold chill of fear run down his spine as he realised he was about to die.

"Winter stop!" Weiss screamed as they exchanged blows again, sparks flying off from the contact of their blades, the sound ringing across the fields.

They disengaged and clashed again, Jaune coming away with a vicious cut on his arm, the keen blade slicing through his clothing as if it wasn't there. He was shoved back again with enough ground between them for some protection. Why did she shove him so far back and forgo the advantage?

"It's quite impressive, your sword work. You'd be an interesting pupil to tutor, if the circumstances were slightly different. It's a shame that fate had aligned us on opposite sides of each other." She bantered a bit, taking a sort of pleasure of enforcing her superiority.

"We aren't on opposite sides… We are all on the same side and that is against the Grimm that is going to knock on our borders and be let loose. Can't you see that!? Or are you so narrow minded where you come from you can't see far beyond the point of your sword!" He shouted, pissed off that people would prefer to commit tasks to their own benefit instead of realising the threat that was right on their doorstep.

She withstood his shouting, believing he deserved to vent at least this much as he surely must feel hopeless in the situation he was in right now. "I will let that slight go, but now our little exchange must end. I am on a tight schedule and I must return home with Weiss."

He held up his sword again, trying to control his breathing as the blood pounded in his ears. "I am sorry, but I must deny you that chance." He spoke softly, trying to control his voice as much as possible

She sighed and shook her head. "I did not want to end this with bloodshed, but it seems that I have no choice." She said with a hint of sorrow in her voice. She twirled her sabre and depressed a switch, a smaller version appearing out of a cut out in her original blade.

He felt another chill run up his spine. He readied his guard again as she put a foot behind her. The bear vocalised again which turned Winter's wrath upon it, the sabre drawing back to a deadly slash.

' _GO!_ ' A voice screamed in his head as he propelled himself at Winter, his body on automatic as his longsword flung her larger sword in the air, but finding the smaller rapier embedded into his chest.

Immediately his fingers went numb, dropping his sword as he stared down at the blade in his body. He instinctively grabbed a hold of it, his body and faced in extreme shock as an intense feeling of pain flooded his body. With his vision dimming, he glanced up at the cold eyes of the woman who stabbed him, and found the tiniest glint of remorse as she withdrew the blade, wiping clean on his clothes.

A scream froze in Weiss' throat as she saw the blade sprout out of his back, feeling time slow down as she saw him drop to his knees and collapsing onto his side. Her body screamed at her to move, and she obeyed, dropping right beside him as she attempted to stop the bleeding. "It's okay Jaune! It's okay! Everything will be okay please don't leave me Jaune I need you! Please Jaune don't die on me I don't know what I'd do if you died, I'd be so lost! Jaune please come back!" She yammered out in one breath as she stared at his face, his blood blooming onto her hands as she attempted to hold him close. "Please don't leave me Jaune!"

He was silent, the pain too much to speak above it, but his shaking hand drifted to her cheek and cupped it. He attempted to speak but couldn't fight the pain enough to do so. He just gazed up at her, finding her beauty shining upon him, and finally realised that he loved this woman, this princess. But now he wouldn't be able to say it, how cruel fate can be.

He felt tired, maybe it was time to sleep, such an odd thought but the overpowering urge to sleep forced him to close his eyes, his senses dimming to the point of non existence.

Weiss screamed in anguish as he drifted off, tears flooding her cheeks as she expressed her pain into the air. All the memories, the tight scrapes, the tough times. All of it came flooding back to her as the life in his body ebbed away.

Winter saw this and felt a twinge of guilt, feeling the keen edge of her pain cut into her skin like a knife. She bit her lip in a second of uncertainty before steeling herself again. She sighed and bashed the pommel of her sabre against Weiss' temple, causing her to go limp.

She slung the unconscious princess on her own horse and mounted, looking back at the body behind her. "Your bravery and devotion to my sister was remarkable, young man… But sometimes being too devoted will get you killed." She said as parting words as she whipped the reigns and set her horse off into a gallop, quickly disappearing into the distance.

While he bled out, the bear vocalised again and nudged him, confused at his stillness. The bear vocalised again and laid down next to him, engulfing him in the body heat and fur. At least he wouldn't be cold as he died.

But at the very fringe of his diminished hearing, he heard soft footfalls and a dark shadow over his face. "Goddamn you hardy bastard, you're still alive." A gruff voice said before the shadow knelt down and checked his wound. "Good thing I came when I did." He pulled out a bag and began to stuff absorbent white cloth into the wound, cleaning the blood.

"Will he live?" A voice behind him said, a female appearing out of the shadows and glanced around.

"Barely, he is lucky enough as it is that he hasn't bled out already. But if we get it done quickly, he'll live." He commented as he staunched the bleeding. "Missed all major arteries and organs, missed the spinal column to otherwise it'd be a mercy to put him out of his misery."

"You believe that he can help us, truly?"

"You saw how devoted he was to Your Grace. If there was anyone who could help us, it's him. We just need to get him to a healer."

"We need to take him back to our hideout. The doctor should be able to heal him." She suggested.

"I dunno, the doctor is a great one but not a miracle worker… But we have to." Once he wrapped the bandage around the chest wound tightly, he slung the body over his shoulder. "Get his gear and bring it with us, forget the tent, we can't carry that." He said to two other assistants who hurried to complete their assigned job.

He slung Jaune across his horse. "Cut the other horses loose, they don't deserve to die like this." He ordered as he noticed the bear following the body. "What is it?"

The bear vocalised again and nudged the limp foot of Jaune. "Alright… Come if you want, got a ways to go though." He said to the bear in a moment of ridiculousness, surely the bear couldn't understand him?

And now he noticed the horse following him as well, the other one bolting off into the distance. "What, you wanna follow to?" The horse neighed and clopped the ground, bouncing her head up and down.

He just gave a shrug as he realised he didn't care, flicking the reigns and setting the party out to return to wherever they came from, the stars twinkling in the moonlight which shed it's glow on the still form of Jaune, who was barely hanging on by a thread of life. But he grasped that thread with as tight of a grip as he could manage, that thread sparkling silver.


	9. Beaten Down, Only to Get Back Up

The scene that greeted Jaune's vision was that of a dirt ceiling, being wrapped up in a bundle of blankets. Yet he could still feel the cold chill emanating from the matching floor.

There was dim lighting that cast large shadows across the walls and ceiling, the flickering candlelight whose dance was unknown to him. It was a while until he regained his senses, his chest ached like hell and he felt exhausted. But he also felt the presence of someone else right next to him.

Turning to the left, he saw that same ostentatiously dressed man from before, staring at him with an unforgiving look. He already knew what was going to be said, so he resigned himself to that fate.

"I asked you if you were fit enough to look after her. You told me I had nothing to worry about. Yet here you are, only recovering from your brush with Death. And yet where is she? Halfway across the country by now probably."

Jaune rolled his eyes and covered his face. "It wasn't exactly a situation where I could've come out of unscathed," he meekly defended.

"Yet you promised me that she would be safe. So I ask again. Were you truly capable of keeping her safe? You are supposed to be an elite warrior, or so I'm told. You already have legends told about you from the battles you've led. But how many times have you brushed with Death?"

Jaune looked to the side. "Three times."

"Three. Three times you've nearly died. Where is your skill, your prowess? Are you truly worthy being one of Pyrrha's Hussars? Or was that a pity promotion to make you look good?"

That cut him to the core, yet he was too tired to defend himself from that. He knew he fucked up, knew he was a failure. He was just a boy pretending to be a soldier. Just a child trying to fight in a war.

"I trusted you with the responsibility that not many men or women have. Now you've blown it, and I have to pick up after your mess and do your job for you," he stated, standing up and beginning to walk away.

"You're wrong," Jaune said. He didn't know what gripped him to say it, he just felt it was necessary to do so.

"Excuse me?" He turned around and looked at Jaune.

"You're wrong. I haven't blew it as you say," he said defiantly.

"How have you not? You nearly died, she is not in your protection currently and she is most likely on the other side of Remnant, how have you not failed?"

"Failing implies that I have given up, or that I will not continue," he started to get up despite the pain in his chest, "But… I have never given up, and I will continue," he gritted his teeth.

The bear was in the room and vocalised before lumbering over and providing him support. Jaune looked at the animal and gave it a few scratches.

"Hey there buddy, what are you doing here?" He said, loving the feeling of such a comforting animal.

"He wouldn't leave you alone, had to bring him in here."

"And my horse?"

"She's fine, just confined to a stable."

He nodded and, with the assistance of the bear, he stood up limping. "I'm not going to give up."

"Brave words for someone on their death bed," The ostentatiously dressed man commented.

"If the spirit is willing, then the body must obey… What do I call you anyways? I realise you haven't introduced yourself yet."

He pondered for a moment before coming to a decision. "Call me Schwarz."

"Alright then, Schwarz. Is there perhaps a place I can clean up? I feel disgusting." 

"Red. Bring this man to the showers and let him wash off, see if you can find any other clothes for him to wear, his are soaked in blood."

The gentleman named Red, quite apt for his eyes, came around the corner and gestured to the direction of the showers, "You will find them over there, take a left and then a right at the end of the hallway." 

Jaune nodded gratefully as he limped in the directions he was given and soon found himself soaking in a hot bath. Seeing his body after the event sent shivers down his spine as he touched the sensitive scar, still red and throbbing somewhat "Like bloody magic… I'm going to have to meet the person who did this," he mumbled as he gingerly cleaned himself off.

Soon enough he had dressed himself in brown pants and a loose white shirt and began to walk around, the bear following him close behind, "I think I should name you but I can't think of one at the moment… Actually I don't even know if you're a male or female… Mmm I don't think that matters too much… Maybe Charlie?"

The bear shook its head and snorted.

"Marlin?" He suggested again.

Another snort and shake.

"Hmmm… Mash!" He said.

The bear cocked its head, as if it was playing the name over in its head before giving a delighted nod and vocalising again.

"Mash it is then. Hopefully Pyrrha doesn't mind if I bring you back home," He said ruefully as he kept limping.

He didn't know where he was going, just mindlessly shuffling along before finding himself at a storefront with a sign in large letter 'HEALER'. He shook his head in bewilderment. He didn't have this destination in mind and yet he found it anyways.

He gave a few tentative knocks and was left with silence. He felt a bit stupid and went to leave before an elderly man opened the door, "Yes?" His strong and gruff voice spoke to Jaune.

"H-hi… I'm Jaune, I was wondering if the person who healed me was here?" He tentatively asked.

"You're looking at him sonny, get in here before you catch a cold," He turned around and disappeared inside.

Jaune looked to Mash, "Stay here, alright bud?" Mash nodded and sat on their backside, licking their paws.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside and was immediately slammed with a cornucopia of smells, earth mixed with astringent stenches, soft aromas and unassuming scents. It was like he jumped head first into a compost mound, the smell was that intense.

There were birds tweeting and plants swaying from their hooks, multiple herbs and spices lined the walls in their own labelled jars. It was as if he stepped into a rainforest or a preservation of nature.

"Is this your house?"

"Well yes, it is where I do my work and live… Been here for twenty years."

"Ohh… That's interesting," he mumbled idly as he stared at the sight before him.

"You were a headache I'll give you that. Broken bones and abrasions to avulsions I can fix, but a straight stab through the sternum? That requires an act of god or faith, but I had neither, so I did with what I had at the moment. Who stabbed you anyways?"

Jaune rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and sighed. "I got stabbed while saving the life of that bear out there."

The old man gave him a hazy look and broke into a fit of laughter. "You fool! You are an absolute fool!" He wheezed and leant against a nearby chair, his shoulders quaking in mirth. "You sacrificed your life to save a bear!? You fool!" He cackled.

Jaune felt the prickling of his honour and his cheeks burning. He bit his lip, realistically it was quite ridiculous, but he still felt like he did the right thing. Once the old man had laughed his amusement he straightened up and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Thank you young man for giving this old man something to laugh about."

"Father, Father who is there?" A feminine voice came out from the back.

"Just the young feller I had to work on, remember him?"

"The one with a wound that only an idiot would get? Yeah I remember him."

Jaune blushed at that and meekly looked away. He didn't exactly plan the meeting out this way and he didn't know exactly what to do.

"Well come out so he knows who exactly is talking smack about him."

'I thought talking smack was only a thing kids do?' Jaune thought as he tensed up.

Out stepped from another plant nursery was a tall woman with messy black hair akin to bird feathers. As she walked in she crossed her arms over her work shirt and stared at him.

Jaune felt uncomfortable with this mysterious woman. "H-hello."

"Hello stupid man." She said simply, giving him a look over once more, but that simple gaze made Jaune feel like he was being deconstructed down to his personality.

"Do you really need to insult me? At least openly?" Jaune sassed.

She thought for a second. "No not really, it feels harsher when I say it to your face." She retorted.

Jaune huffed and looked to the side before the old man took pity on him. "Now now no need to be that harsh. He made a choice and I doubt he'd change it to be honest. That bear is quite cute you have to admit."

She looked away. "No." She voiced without emotion.

"Kind of reminds you of that blonde feller doesn't it? You know the one that does all the hard work in this place? Unkempt blonde hair, strong muscular man? I forgot his name, I think it started with a T." He mused with a smirk on his face.

Her face began to turn red at the mention of this man. Jaune, seeing a way to embarrass her, leapt at it immediately.

"Ah young love is so sweet isn't it?" He said to the father.

"Good thing you won't experience it you dullard." She shot back with heated intensity.

Jaune shrugged, now satisfied that the heat was no longer directed at him, he looked around the nursery with interest. "I've never even heard of these herbs before…"

"No you wouldn't have, modern medicine has forgone the natural cures that are available for ones created and devised by science." He sounded bitter at this, which surprised Jaune.

"Unfortunately that's just how the way we work. We adapt, evolve, invent and create. In the meanwhile we leave everything we believe is superfluous, behind." Jaune attempted to rationalise the situation to him.

The old man sighed and nodded. "Yes… I believe you're right… Gods damnit where is my son? Shouldn't he be back home by now?"

"I don't know where he is father, should I go look for him?"

"No no… You there son, go find my… son. He looks like my daughter, just as unkempt and untidy as her, just male."

She scoffed and turned away, disappearing back into the nursery, leaving Jaune with the father. "So looks like her, but male?"

"Yup, can't really give a better descriptor than that to be honest. They are twins so it was hell when they were kids, wasn't until they decided for different hair styles that I was able to bloody tell them apart."

Jaune nodded and turned to leave, exiting out the door. The big bear groaned and got back up, headbutting him softly. He just smiled and gave it a scratch behind the ears. "I'm glad I got you buddy…"

The bear nuzzled him again and began to wander off. "Where are you going?" Jaune asked, confused as he began to follow him. 'Surely he didn't understand the conversation inside?'

Nevertheless he followed the bear, eager to know what drew him to this direction. Soon they did find him, much to Jaune's surprise, directing a swordsmanship class.

"Seriously? That was a thrust? All of your weight came from your wrist, you didn't put any of your arm strength or body weight into it," He quietly belittled a shivering trainee. "I want you to try that again." 

The trainee shivered a bit more before they attempt the limp wristed thrust. The gentleman's bare hand slapped the blade away, and the disappointment was apparent. "Now, let me show you what can actually happen when you thrust properly."

As he said that, he demonstrated a textbook thrust. The wooden tip whistled as it struck the trainee in the stomach, explosively expelling the air out of his lungs which made them collapse to the floor.

He took a second to eye the trainee before looking to the rest of the cohort, "If I see you little shit's try to limp wrist an attack again! You will become my personal training dummy!"

A resounding "Yes Sir!" Could be heard echoing throughout the underground cavern before they scrambled to get back to training with their partners.

Having nothing else to do, the man noticed Jaune and walked over, "By how new you look I presume that you're the guy that my father rescued?"

"Well that's a rather blunt way to tell me you're the person I was told to look for."

"I am nothing but blunt." He conceded before gesturing with his blade. "Come over then, I've got to see what you're made of."

Jaune sighed and resigned himself, taking a wooden sword from one of the trainees and got himself a defensive stance. The gentlemanly instructor looked over him with a critical eye. "Very good, very good. Your feet are apart at the right angle and distance. I can tell that while your core is tense, it'll become flexible at the point of impact." He took a few more seconds to appraise him before sending a heavy overhead smash onto his blade.

Jaune winced at the vibration but kept his guard up. "What shall I call you?"

He pondered for a moment. "You can call me your Trainer, no real need to know my name since you'll bounce out of here soon enough. Now I will ask you to strike me however you wish."

Jaune nodded and stepped forward, delivering a fast thrust. His trainer blocked it easily, sliding out range. Jaune followed up again with a side cut followed by a backhand slash. The first attack was weaved out of and the second was parried.

"Not bad, footwork could improve but your strikes are decent. Now hit me as if you're trying to kill me."

Jaune bit his lip and stepped forward to deliver a high cut. His trainer blocked it too easily and clucked his tongue. "I said for you to try and kill me, again."

Another cut easily blocked. "Come on, stop trying to kill me and kill me!" He shouted at Jaune.

They exchanged another flurry of blows, but Jaune didn't want to hurt him. It wasn't long before he was disarmed and at his trainer's mercy.

"Why do you hold back?" He queried.

"Cause I don't want to hurt you."

"Alright, what if I killed someone in front of you. Would you kill me then?"

"No. I would fight you and arrest you."

"Fair enough. What if I was a genuine monster, I had killed men, women, children and the elderly. What would you do?"

"I… I would try to arrest you." His trainer was already shaking his head.

"Jaune… I realise that you are the altruistic type and want to save those who cannot save themselves… But there are people that exist, genuine monsters who have forgone their humanity and will do whatever it takes to keep killing… When you fight someone who wants to kill you, without wanting to kill them, you are immediately at a disadvantage. Think about it, they are doing everything they can to make sure you die, yet you won't respond in kind. You won't go all out, you won't attempt to be lethal. You are immediately put on the defence."

Jaune didn't want to admit it but he was right. He had been subconsciously trying to do what he believed was the right thing. He wanted everyone to be judged by the law. Who was he to decide who lives and who dies? But if he died then ultimately his ideals would die.

"So… What you're trying to say is that no matter the circumstances, there are some people who are beyond salvation, that some of these people only deserve to be put down?" Jaune asked.

"Yes. It is a gritty reality but there are people out there who are not worth the time, money and effort it'll take to incarcerate them. Sometimes you can do the world a big favour and erase them from this existence."

Jaune sighed and rubbed his face, conflicted. His trainer took pity and clapped him on the shoulder. "Jaune, these people won't give you the same courtesy of taking you in and arresting you. It is either you or them. It's different with the Grimm as they are just beasts of anger and apathy. But there are people out there who won't blink an eye when they kill you."

"Now I think my dad might be looking for me? Alright, I'll head over there, probably wants me for something. Do me a favour, and finish the class for me alright? They might listen to you instead." He chuckled and walked off with a hand in the air.

The young trainees all turned their faces to look at Jaune, who felt a sense of déjà vu. He grabbed the discarded training sword and gave it a couple of practise swings. Smiling, he felt a sense of belonging here. "Alright, apparently I'm your trainer for today. Shall we get started?"


End file.
